Breast‐feeding, Bottle‐feeding and Related Factors

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Abstract
Infant feeding practices and related factors were studied in a survey of 189 mothers of 4-mo.-old infants in 1980 and of 151 mothers of 6-mo.-old infants in 1982. In both groups .apprx. 70% of the mothers commenced with breast-feeding. In 1980, 21% of the infants were still being breast-fed at the age of 4 mo., compared with 32% in 1982. Of the infants, 26% were still being breast-fed at the age of 6 mo. The most frequently mentioned reason for not commencing with or discontinuing breast-feeding was insufficient milk. Univariate analyses showed that the educational level of the mother and her smoking habits were significantly related to both the commencement and the duration of breast-feeding in 1980 and 1982. These results were confirmed by multivariate analyses which suggest that well educated, non-smoking mothers are the most successful in breast-feeding their infants.