308
BRITISH MEDICAL
JOURNAL
7 FEBRUARY 1976
Mothers' attitudes to infant feeding at Newcastle General Hospital in summer '975 C J BACON, J M WYLIE British Medical Journal, 1976, 1, 308-309
Results and comment ASSOCIATIONS WITH PERSONAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND
Summary Two-hundred successively delivered mothers were asked about their attitudes towards feeding their babies, the influences on them, and their personal and social backgrounds. Initially 39% intended to breast-feed, though in the first few weeks many gave up. Choosing to breastfeed, ,and success in. doing so, were strongly associated with higher social class. The commonest reason. given by those who chose the bottle was the, embarrassment of breast-feeding. Efforts to increase the numbe.rs of mothers choosing to breast-feed should concentrate on those mothers who remain undecided on their method of feeding. If they are to breast-feed their babies successfully they will need careful advice and support both before and after delivery. Introduction The survey described in the accompanying paper' took place in the Princess Mary Maternity Hospital (PMMH) early in 1974. Eighteen months later a similar but independent survey was carried out at the city's other maternity unit at Newcastle General Hospital (NGH). The- NGH handles about 2200 deliveries a year and serves mainly the poorer part of the city, so that the social class distribution of the mothers is different from that of the PMMH. Methods The methods of the two surveys were similar, except that the 200 mothers questioned in the NGH survey were those delivered successively over six weeks, comprising 78 breast-feeders and 122 bottlefeeders, rather than 100 of each. The unit's normal routine was not changed during the survey; there' was no systematic promotion of breast-feeding, but advice and encouragement were given as required. No distinction was made in the analysis between mothers who were feeding entirely from the breast and those who were breast-feeding but complementing it with the bottle.
Maternity Unit, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE C J BACON, MRCP, paediatric registrar J M WYLIE, MB, BS, senior house officer
Breast-feeding was found to be significantly associated with social class (table I). There was a much larger proportion of breast-feeders in classes I and II than in class III (P
BRITISH MEDICAL
JOURNAL
7 FEBRUARY 1976
Mothers' attitudes to infant feeding at Newcastle General Hospital in summer '975 C J BACON, J M WYLIE British Medical Journal, 1976, 1, 308-309
Results and comment ASSOCIATIONS WITH PERSONAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND
Summary Two-hundred successively delivered mothers were asked about their attitudes towards feeding their babies, the influences on them, and their personal and social backgrounds. Initially 39% intended to breast-feed, though in the first few weeks many gave up. Choosing to breastfeed, ,and success in. doing so, were strongly associated with higher social class. The commonest reason. given by those who chose the bottle was the, embarrassment of breast-feeding. Efforts to increase the numbe.rs of mothers choosing to breast-feed should concentrate on those mothers who remain undecided on their method of feeding. If they are to breast-feed their babies successfully they will need careful advice and support both before and after delivery. Introduction The survey described in the accompanying paper' took place in the Princess Mary Maternity Hospital (PMMH) early in 1974. Eighteen months later a similar but independent survey was carried out at the city's other maternity unit at Newcastle General Hospital (NGH). The- NGH handles about 2200 deliveries a year and serves mainly the poorer part of the city, so that the social class distribution of the mothers is different from that of the PMMH. Methods The methods of the two surveys were similar, except that the 200 mothers questioned in the NGH survey were those delivered successively over six weeks, comprising 78 breast-feeders and 122 bottlefeeders, rather than 100 of each. The unit's normal routine was not changed during the survey; there' was no systematic promotion of breast-feeding, but advice and encouragement were given as required. No distinction was made in the analysis between mothers who were feeding entirely from the breast and those who were breast-feeding but complementing it with the bottle.
Maternity Unit, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne NE4 6BE C J BACON, MRCP, paediatric registrar J M WYLIE, MB, BS, senior house officer
Breast-feeding was found to be significantly associated with social class (table I). There was a much larger proportion of breast-feeders in classes I and II than in class III (P
