Recent trends in breast-feeding in Southern Finland

A retrospective study on breast-feeding (BF) during 1962-77 has been carried out for the province of Uusimaa. The study was based on 35 815 child health records kept by community health centres. Information was entered in 76% of the records, the percentage improving from 52 to 94 during the study period. The average duration of BF was observed to decline steadily from 2.3 months in 1962 to 1.7 in 1971, increasing thereafter to 3.6 months by the end of the study. A similar pattern of slow decline turning to a sharp rise by 1971 can be seen in the percentage of mothers beginning BF, and various time categories of nursing. The observed increase in BF is attributed to changing general attitudes, which also play a role, as the increase in BF coincides with extensions of maternity leave from 2 to 7 months in the seventies. The results indicate a favourable response to efforts to promote BF and suggest that these efforts should be continued and intensified.