>It amazes me that the Ross Labs Mothers Survey is really the only
>nationwide, longitudinal study of breastfeeding initiation and duration
>rates in the United States.  I strongly believe that these statistics sho=
>uld be collected by an impartial third party, not a formula manufacturer.

My bet is that Ross never set out to inherit the crown as the nation's premiere collector of breastfeeding data.  This data has been collected since 1970 as a standard part of their company's market research.  Mead Johnson also collects this data as a part of their market research, but does not make it available outside their organization.  I've heard many people say that it is getting harder and harder to access the Ross data, too.    

At a CDC conference I attended about a year ago there was quite a lot of talk about the challenges in developing and funding a national data collection system for breastfeeding.  Many states collect their own data, but there are few similarities from state to state.  One bright hope being assessed was the feasibility of adding breastfeeding questions to the national immunization registry, which is already collected uniformly from state to state in all 50 states.  Haven't heard how or whether this effort is progressing, but it might provide a beginning hope for national data that is not collected by a formula company.  Anyone know more about this?   
       
Cathy Carothers, BLA, IBCLC
Outreach Coordinator
Best Start Social Marketing
[log in to unmask]
(601) 372-9529 (home office)

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