Exclusive breast-feeding of newborns among married women in the United States: the National Natality Surveys of 1969 and 1980.

Questions about infant feeding practices after birth were included in 1969 and 1980 National Natality Surveys (NNS). At 3-6 mo postpartum, NNS questionnaires were mailed to mothers of live infants born in wedlock, and responses were weighted to permit national estimates. Based on the NNS, the proportion of women who were exclusively breast-feeding newborns in the United States was significantly lower in 1969 (19% of white women, 9% of black women) compared with 1980 (51% of white women, 25% of black women). In 1969, the highest percentages of exclusive breast-feeding were observed among white women less than or equal to 34 yr, of parity less than or equal to 3 and greater than 7, and of higher than lower socioeconomic groups; and among black women greater than or equal to 30 yr, of parity greater than or equal to 4, and of lower than higher socioeconomic groups. Among women in both races in 1980, more primiparae than multiparae and the more highly educated were breast-feeding. More white than black women exclusively breast-fed within each birthweight and each sociodemographic characteristic in 1980; therefore, the racial differences remained across these factors. These findings are compared with results of the Ross Laboratories surveys of infant feeding.