Summary

Description

The 2010 Infant Feeding Survey is the eighth in a series of national surveys. These surveys have been conducted every five years since 1975, on behalf of the four Health Departments in the United Kingdom. This latest survey has been commissioned by the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care (NHS IC) and is being conducted by IFF Research. The main aim of the survey is to provide estimates of the incidence, prevalence and duration of breastfeeding and other feeding practices adopted by mothers from the birth of their baby up to around ten months. The survey also collects information about the smoking and drinking behaviour of mothers before, during and after pregnancy. The survey consists of a longitudinal design (similar to previous surveys in this series) with data being collected in three stages. The first stage is collected when the babies are approximately 6-10 weeks old, the second when they are 4-6 months old and the third when they are 8-10 months old. The results presented in this Early Results publication are based on Stage 1 of the survey only and cover two key topics; the initial incidence of breastfeeding and smoking during pregnancy. The final stage of the survey is currently underway and a full report is expected to be published by the NHS IC in Summer 2012.