I know this may be a silly question to some, but every time I see a chart
or statistic that says what percent of mothers who initiate breastfeeding
and how many of those continue 6 months or longer, I get confused as to
what the second number means.

For example, in the April 1997 issue of Parenting, there is a chart which
lists by country those percentages.  In the USA, it says that 57% of
mothers start breastfeeding (by the way, lower than Sweden 98%, Norway 98%,
Poland 93%, Canada 80%, Netherlands 68%, Britain 63%) and 20% continue 6
months or longer.

Is that 20% of the 57% , or 20% of the original all moms population?  Can
someone set me straight?!!

Thanks!

Karen Foard mailto:[log in to unmask]