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| Photo: sxc.hu |
New statistics from the National Board of Health and Welfare shows that the number of mothers who breastfeed their babies is decreasing, despite the fact that the number of mothers who want to breastfeed is increasing.
For many years the number of mothers who breastfeed was inceasing in Sweden. But since the mid 1990´s, it has started to decrease.
This despite that most mothers want to breastfeed. This according t oSofia Zwedberg, specialist midwife at the Karolinska University Hospital in Solna, north Stockholm.
- We have asked mothers and about 80 percent want to breastfeed in four to six months. But much less mothers really do breastfeed. Then we must ask ourselves what is happening. Can we not support these mothers in the way they need? This says Ms Zwedberg to Swedish Public Radio SR
Of those babies who were born in 1998, 69 percent were breastfed when they were four months old. In 2007 the number is 56 percent.
According to Sofia Zwedberg, there are several possible explanations.
- Breastfeeding is a complex matter and society affects a lot. Today there is a debate about equality and many parents wonder whether the mother and the father should feed the baby fifty-fifty. There may also be some mothers who need to give their babies additional substances because they (the mothers) have a decease, sais Zwedberg to SR.
Ms Zwedberg is now working together with a group of colleagues to find out the factors behind the decrease and whether or not the healthcare can do anything to encourage more mothers to breastfeed.
- We know that infections deceases decrease, the mother gets less bleedings, better blood count and that she can easier loose weight after the pregnance, says Zwedberg to SR.
Table: Proportion of babies who breastfeed at the age of four months. Source: National Board of Health and Welfare.
| Year |
Percentage |
| 1996 |
68,6 |
| 1997 |
68,9 |
| 1998 |
69,1 |
| 1999 |
68,7 |
| 2000 |
68,3 |
| 2001 |
68,3 |
| 2002 |
68,0 |
| 2003 |
67,5 |
| 2004 |
63,8 |
| 2005 |
61,1 |
| 2006 |
59,8 |
| 2007 |
56,2 |