STATISTICAL REPORT ON INCIDENCE AND DURATION OF BREAST FEEDING IN RELATION TO PERSONAL-SOCIAL AND HOSPITAL MATERNITY FACTORS

Abstract

The incidence of breast feeding at the New Haven Hospital (University Service) and the discontinuance of nursing during the puerperium is reported for a 10-year period (1942 through 1951), with a review of the literature over this decade. The incidence of breast feeding at the New Haven Hospital declined sharply from 81.9 per cent in 1942 to 48.9 per cent in 1946, with a tendency to level off after a slight rise in 1947. There was a significant increase in per cent of mothers who stopped breast feeding in the hospital at a time (1942 through 1944) when a significant decrease in per cent of mothers starting to breast feed was occurring. On comparing the proportion of discontinuance between rooming-in and nursery (non-rooming-in) mothers (1947 through 1949) a statistically significant difference was found between the two groups, the rooming-in group showing less cessation of nursing during the hospital period. In follow-up studies of the duration of breast feeding of the rooming-in and nursery mothers (1947 through 1949) the average duration between the two groups shows a significant difference in each of the years studied; the 3-year averages for the two groups likewise show a statistically significant difference, the rooming-in mothers nursing longer. The average duration within either group does not differ significantly from year to year. On relating incidence and duration of breast feeding to difficulty of labor, as rated from hospital records during 1949, it was found that time incidence of breast feeding decreases with the increasing difficulty of labor.