Are there any stats on whether BF figures in the UK are improving?

[TheHopefullyAndTheIvy]

Just wondering really (as I do, during these 11pm feeds...) whether all the efforts by the NCT, LLL etc are paying off.

Are there any figures to show that in recent years that more women are managing to BF, and to BF (exclusively or otherwise) for longer than they were, say, five or ten years ago? I guess more women are BF, and for longer, than in the 1970s/80s, but I wondered whether there were any more recent stats?

And wouldn't it be interesting if some research was done on how many women continued to BF (exclusively or otherwise) following NCT and other charities' advice, and how many women continued using the advice of, for instance, GF or Claire Byam Cook... I assume it hasn't? Or am I the only one who thinks that would be a fascinating set of stats to compare?

Infant feeding survey 2005 provides some info on trends nationally.This is interesting. More on the impact of bf initiatives here.

You can find up to date bf stats at the department of health website - look for Infant Feeding 2005 which is the latest large survey. Read the summaries for a report on how bf stats are indeed improving - initiation is up, maintenance is up, but we are still not doing well on exclusivity. The percentage of bf women whose babies get formula as well remains high.

I don't know of any studies that look at GF/CBC advice specifically, but there are studies that show bf according to a schedule is less likely to continue.

More evidence on effective support interventions here and some further info on good practice and resources here

Local data on breastfeeding rates at 6-8 weeks has begun to be collected fairly recently. Sadly, in many areas the quality of data collected is poor and cannot yet be relied upon. You can view what is available here.

Overview of some research on cue feeding vs scheduling here and article with supporting research references here

Thanks so much for the links, I'll definitely be taking a look at all of this during my next stupid o'clock feed!

Not sure why I've suddenly become interested in this - I'm still counting down the days until I can stop BF with less guilt if I want to (12 weeks to go until 6 months!) - but I'm really interested on the state of BF in Britain, and what difference all these brilliant BFCs like Tiktok and the rest of them are making.

The things MN makes you appreciate....

OMG, DS is asleep before midnight. Bed time!

I really could go on all night .

If you get into looking up various aspects of the research on breastfeeding then the list of references on The American Academy of Paediatrics page is long, interesting and has some links to full text articles.

Sleep well

A key randomised controlled trial on bf telephone support: abstract here. It shows that even mothers with minimal training can have an impact. ABM, BfN, NCT and LLL volunteers who run the UK helplines to far more training than 2.5hrs!!

Grendle and tiktok thanks for all of those links and suggestions, I found it all really fascinating reading (and will continue to do so, as I haven't read it all yet!)

They definitely need to do another national survey. Our local rates in Harrow are inproving mainly due to the support being better (drop-ins, peer supporters etc) and the hospital not providing formula any more and the midwives actually helping Mums to breastfeed

The surveys are done regularly, every 5 years. The next one will be 2010, but the results take a while to be published afterwards. The 6-8 weeks figures are now collected ( and I think published) quarterley.

Tiktok and Grendle, you must both have fantastic collections of bookmarks on breastfeeding. Would you be willing to share your bookmark files via email? [cheeky emoticon]

I'm pretty embarrassed to admit that most of mine aren't bookmarked, I'm just that much of a geek that I remember where this stuff is and am pretty good at tracking things down. If there's anything in particular you'd like I'd be happy to share, or I might be able to put together a list?

Actually, maybe I should do that ...

Nothing in particular, Grendle, I'm just interested in breastfeeding research in general. Wouldn't ask you to put together a list, that would be truly cheeky!