>Does anyone know how many mothers are missing from the data 
>collection on breastfeeding in the US?  Nina points out the pitfalls 
>of asking mothers about feeding practices at 6 months (this is a 
>turning point for many, so asking them at 5.5 months or at 6.5 
>months would yield more useful data).
>
>But in the UK, does not virtually every mother have contact with a 
>health visitor, and do they not all contribute data from their 
>respective patches, to the national data collection on breastfeeding 
>and other matters of child health?


You'd think so....but no, that's not how it works.

There are two ways we collect data in the UK (actually 3 because 
Scotland collects data in yet another way, but I'll ignore that for 
the mment!).

1. In England and (I think) Wales, there is data collection by health 
visitors, which is transmitted locally to local collectors of data, 
and which is then transmitted to the Dept of Health. This is done 
quarterly. HVs ask mothers about their bf, and it is fed into the 
local stats.

2. In the UK (all the UK, inc Scotland and N. Ireland), the 
five-yearly Infant Feeding survey is done by a mix of person to 
person and postal survey. Comparisons between small areas are not 
possibe, but data is compared regionally.

Number 2 is generally considered to be robust; it is independent, and 
it is carefully sampled and carefully checked. Even so, it probably 
slighly overstates breastfeeding (as the authors always acknowledge) 
because of the limits of postal surveying.

Number 1 is patchy. Some areas have data that is such poor quality, 
the Dept of Health will not publish it. Other areas the data is good. 
I think we are getting better.  But it is a hard process.

The five-yearly Infant feeding survey is academically excellent and 
rigorous. Sadly, it appears our govt. will not be funding the 2015 
survey.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor

(all this is from memory - if other UK people think I have made an 
error, do speak up!)


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