Studies show that the strongest predictor of whether a woman will attempt to breastfeed her baby is whether or not she has seen another mother and baby breastfeeding. Men, they say, are convinced by facts.
The two strongest facts I like to share with woman are 1) The bond a breastfeeding woman has with her baby is stronger and 2) Breastfed babies are 50% less likely to die from SIDS.
For me, breastfeeding was a given. As a little girl I breastfed my dolls. All the women around me breastfed their babies. My own sister gave birth 360 days before my first baby was born and I watched her struggle and then get help to solve her problems. This helped me to see that it wasn't necessarily going to be easy, and that help was available.
Studies show that 75% of American women want to breastfeed, plan to breastfeed and start breastfeeding in the hospital. After 6 months, however only 43% are breastfeeding, and only 13.3% are exclusively breastfeeding.
Check out the data at:
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/reportcard.htm
What influenced your choice to breastfeed? What kept you going or caused you to stop?
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