Aim: To estimate the percentage of breastfeeding mothers with home access to e-technologies and to compare breastfeeding outcomes for mothers with and without access to e-technologies.
Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of 550 breastfeeding mothers discharged from nine maternity units in France.
Results: Overall, 435 mothers (79%; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 75-82) had home access to e-technologies. Mothers with access to e-technologies were less likely to be unemployed (6% vs. 15%, p = 0.004), to smoke during pregnancy (8% vs. 16%, p = 0.03), to have a breastfeeding assessment score <8 (39% vs. 59%, p < 0.001) and to use a pacifier (23% vs. 41%, p < 0.001). Although mothers with access to e-technologies had a longer median breastfeeding duration than those without home access to e-technologies (19 vs. 16 weeks, p = 0.02), adjusted hazard ratios for breastfeeding discontinuation (0.85; 95% CI, 0.60-1.21), overall satisfaction rates (73% vs. 67%, p = 0.19) and breastfeeding difficulties after discharge (58% vs. 61%, p = 0.60) were not different for the two groups.
Conclusion: A vast majority of breastfeeding mothers have home access to e-technologies in France. However, access to e-technologies was not independently associated with better breastfeeding outcomes in this study.