[Breast feeding from the viewpoint of women who have breast-fed for long periods. A contribution to the question of factors determining the duration of breast feeding].

In the first half of 1979 all women having given birth to a child in the canton of Basle were interviewed about their breastfeeding experience. Two groups could be identified and followed up with personal interviews: women having breastfed for three months (12 weeks) and women who continued nursing for over 20 weeks. Women who breastfed longer than 20 weeks tend to stick less to traditional rules, and replace milk later by solid food. Both groups reported the same amount of problems with breastfeeding, but women who breastfed longer tended to consider these problems less severe. Their general view of breastfeeding was more positive and they considered breastfeeding to be easy; both groups had definite views on the ideal duration of breastfeeding according to their own experience; better information about everyday problems could help to improve the experience of breastfeeding women.