[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-445079-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-445079-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","exclusive-breastfeeding-and-postpartum-depression-a-protective-association-that-is-not-modified-by-feeding-intentions","Exclusive breastfeeding and postpartum depression: A protective association that is not modified by feeding intentions","","Approximately 13% of women in the United States experience postpartum depression (PPD), a mood disorder that harms maternal and infant wellbeing. Breastfeeding may offer protection, and breastfeeding intentions may influence that relationship. This study analyzes breastfeeding status and PPD symptoms, testing whether exclusive breastfeeding intentions moderate the association among low-income women using WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2 data and logistic regression. Exclusive breastfeeding reduced odds of elevated PPD symptoms, but intentions did not modify the relationship.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exclusive-breastfeeding-and-postpartum-depression-a-protective-association-that-is-not-modified-by-feeding-intentions/445079/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/exclusive-breastfeeding-and-postpartum-depression-a-protective-association-that-is-not-modified-by-feeding-intentions/445079.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"dhado","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-03","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":26},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What is the main research question of the study?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"Whether exclusive breastfeeding is associated with postpartum depression symptoms and whether exclusive breastfeeding intentions modify that relationship in low-income women.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How was postpartum depression measured?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"PPD symptoms were assessed at 3 months postpartum using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, with elevated symptoms defined as EPDS ≥ 10.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"Did exclusive breastfeeding intentions change the breastfeeding–PPD association?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Exclusive breastfeeding intentions did not moderate the association; the protective association observed for exclusive breastfeeding was not altered by intentions.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},445079,1791028252,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":106,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":26,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":123,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},5909893218464,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","OPEN ACCESS  \nCitation: Ryan RA, Berube LT, Deierlein AL (2026) Exclusive breastfeeding and postpartum depression: A protective association that isnot modified by feeding intentions. PLoS One 21(1): e0340269. [https://doi.org/10.1371/](https://doi.org/10.1371/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.1371/)[journal.pone.0340269](journal.pone.0340269)  \nEditor: Marianna Mazza, Universita Cattolica del  \nSacro Cuore Sede di Roma, ITALY Received: March 25, 2025  \nAccepted: December 17, 2025  \nPublished: January 6, 2026  \nCopyright: © 2026 Ryan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.  \nData availability statement: The do-file and data utilized for this study are available from the Figshare database at [https://figshare.com/](https://figshare.com/)[ ](https://figshare.com/)[projects/Exclusive_breastfeeding_and_post-](projects/Exclusive_breastfeeding_and_post-)[partum_depression_symptoms_A_protective_](partum_depression_symptoms_A_protective_)[association_that_is_not_modified_by_feed-](association_that_is_not_modified_by_feed-)[ing_intentions/254417](ing_intentions/254417.)[.](ing_intentions/254417.)  \nRESEARCH ARTICLE  \nExclusive breastfeeding and postpartum depression: A protective association that is not modified by feeding intentions  \nRachel A. Ryan1*, Lauren T. Berube1, Andrea L. Deierlein1,2  \n1 Public Health Nutrition, School of Global Public Health, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America, 2 Department of Population Health at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York University Langone Health, New York, New York, United States of America  \n* [rw1493@nyu.edu](rw1493@nyu.edu)  \nAbstract  \nApproximately 13% of women in the United States (U.S.) experience postpartum depression (PPD), a mood disorder that negatively affects maternal and infant wellbeing. Breastfeeding may protect against PPD and breastfeeding intentions may moderate this relationship. This study examined the association between breastfeeding status and PPD symptoms and whether exclusive breastfeeding intentions moderate this relationship in low-income women in the U.S. We utilized data from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2, a longitudinal cohort study of caregiver feeding practices and nutrition outcomes among children enrolled in WIC. Exclusive breastfeeding intentions were measured prenatally; breastfeeding status at 1 month; and PPD symptoms at 3 months postpartum using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (elevated PPD symptoms defined as EPDS ≥ 10) . We conducted logistic regression to examine the association between breastfeeding status and elevated PPD symptoms. We stratified the analysis by exclusive breastfeeding intention-status groups to assess moderation. Adjusted models controlled for selfreported maternal ethnicity, annual household income, and smoking during pregnancy. The analytic sample included 2,022 mothers who identified their race as Black or African American (20 .7%), White (58 .8%), or other (20 .6%), and their ethnicity as Hispanic (48 . 1%) or non-Hispanic (51 .9%) . The majority were ≥20 years old (88 .2%), not married (68 .2%), and had a high school education or less (62 .7%) . Compared to mothers who exclusively breastfed, those who combination fed (AOR, 2.03; 95% CI, 1.23–3.40) or exclusively formula fed (AOR 2 .03; 95% CI 1.16–3.42) at 1 month had higher odds of elevated PPD symptoms. Exclusive breastfeeding intentions did not moderate this relationship. While exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a lower likelihood of experiencing elevated PPD symptoms, the majority of participants did not meet their exclusive breastfeeding intentions, highlighting the need for enhanced breastfeeding support.  \nPLOS One | ","cbCaioyE6YKRJ2wB","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaioyE6YKRJ2wB","pdf",367264,"English","# Abstract\n## Introduction\n## Methods (implied)\n## Results (implied)\n## Discussion/Implications (implied)","[{\"question\":\"What is the main research question of the study?\",\"answer\":\"Whether exclusive breastfeeding is associated with postpartum depression symptoms and whether exclusive breastfeeding intentions modify that relationship in low-income women.\"},{\"question\":\"How was postpartum depression measured?\",\"answer\":\"PPD symptoms were assessed at 3 months postpartum using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, with elevated symptoms defined as EPDS ≥ 10.\"},{\"question\":\"Did exclusive breastfeeding intentions change the breastfeeding–PPD association?\",\"answer\":\"Exclusive breastfeeding intentions did not moderate the association; the protective association observed for exclusive breastfeeding was not altered by intentions.\"}]","Exclusive breastfeeding and postpartum depression: A protective association that is not modified by feeding intentions | PDF",1790710237,25]