Early Life Nutrition and Lifelong Health - Derbyshire Local Medical ...

BMA Board of ScienceBox 6: Reasons given by mothers for stopping breastfeeding by duration of breastfeedingBaby’s age when breastfeeding ceasedLess than1 week1 week,less than2 weeks2 weeks,less than6 weeks6 weeks,less than4 months4 months,less than6 months6 months,less than9 monthsAll mothersgiving up †Why stopped breastfeedingPercentage (%) of mothers who stopped breastfeedingInsufficient milk 26 41 53 48 37 24 39Baby rejected breast 34 21 17 13 11 16 20Painful breasts/nipples 24 29 17 9 1 2 14Took too long/tiring 11 17 19 19 5 5 14Mother was ill 8 11 9 8 5 5 8Domestic reasons 4 7 9 10 3 2 7Returned to work/college 1 – 1 8 15 22 7Too stressful 7 7 6 4 3 1 5Baby ill 6 7 5 3 2 1 4Baby could not be fed by others 1 5 4 6 4 3 4Did not like breastfeeding 2 5 4 1 1 * 3Breastfed for as long as intended 1 1 1 4 10 6 3More settled on formula 1 2 2 4 8 3 3Baby not gaining weight * 1 2 6 4 3 3Teething/biting †† 3 14 2All Stage 3 mothers who stoppedbreastfeeding during survey period 1143 351 1087 1284 195 727 4827† Includes some cases where mother’s breastfeeding duration not known†† Code introduced at later Stages* Percentage less than 0.5%Percentages do not add to 100% as some mothers gave more than one answerSource: Bolling K, Grant C, Hamlyn B et al (2007) Infant feeding survey 2005. London: The Information Centre.Early life nutrition and lifelong health 29