Are Mothers Certain About Their Perceptions of Recalled Infant Feeding History?

BACKGROUND: Maternal recall of infant feeding practices is used frequently in epidemiologic studies to identify the relationship between the dose and exposure of mothers’ own milk (MOM) and subsequent health outcomes. Maternal recall has been identified as a potential source of measurement bias. OBJECTIVE: To describe maternal recall certainty of the dose and exposure of MOM feedings at four sequential time periods post birth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this secondary analysis of data from a larger study, mothers of children 4–36 months of age were asked to (1) describe infants’ MOM dose and exposure at four sequential time periods post birth and (2) rate the certainty of their recall. RESULTS: Eighty mothers provided complete data. MOM was the first feeding for 78.5% of infants and was received by 83% during the first week, 85% during the first month, and 62% during the fourth month. Maternal ratings of recall certainty were >95% for each of the four time periods. Although reported recall certainty was significantly different for the four time periods (Χ(2) =9.67, p=0.02), no two time periods were significantly different in post hoc analyses. Maternal recall certainty was highest with the infants’ first feed, with no relationship for other time periods. CONCLUSION: Maternal recall certainty of infant feeding at four sequential time periods post birth was high regardless of elapsed time. The measurement of maternal recall certainty may be useful in clinical practice and subsequent studies linking MOM exposure to later health outcomes.