The incidence of breast feeding and reasons for weaning.

All 186 mothers delivered in a one month period at St Helens Hospital, Auckland, were interviewed on admission to hospital regarding their attitude to breast feeding and were followed until the infant was weaned or six months of age to determine the reason for weaning. One hundred and fifty-two (82%) of mothers were breast feeding on discharge, 34 (18%) were artificially feeding and only three of these had planned to breast feed before delivery. Racial characteristics were important, with only 7.5% Pacific Island mothers leaving hospital bottle feeding compared to 20% European and 29% of the Maori mothers. Marital status also influenced feeding as 14% of the married mothers left hospital bottle feeding compared to 20% of those in a de facto relationship and 29% of the single mothers. Only 23% of the mothers were still breast feeding at six months of age. The mean age of weaning was 15 +/- 9 weeks and the major reason for weaning was that of an inadequate milk supply in 54%. Despite the high proportion of mothers breast feeding on discharge from hospital, the rapid falloff in breast feeding following discharge highlights the need for improved education of the mothers.