Susan
Have you tried your local and/or state WIC programs for their numbers? This
doesn't give you the # for *all* BFing women/babies, only for those on WIC,
of course, but it does give you one clearly defined set of numbers. In our
area of NY, over half of the babies in the county are on WIC, so it's not a
small proportion of the general population. I don't know of other places
that would keep these figures, necessarily - doctors' offices or clinics
might or (more likely) not, but I know that WIC keeps very detailed #'s.
Local program is more likely to have accurate #s than state, and info is
broken down by county, which is important and interesting data to have to
compare with a study group.
BTW - maybe this is just a personal quirk, but I hate the term "BF failure
rate". Failure as defined by whom? BF as defined by what parameters? Those
of us in the lactation biz, when finding it necessary to speak in
statistical terms, tend to find it more useful to refer to the "initiation"
and "duration" rates. This also matches the language of the "Healthy People
2000" initiative and public health goals.
Cathy Bargar RN, IBCLC Ithaca NY
-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Chase [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Sunday, May 16, 1999 1:08 PM
Subject: Thesis/breastfeeding failure rate at 6 weeks
Does anyone have any suggestions where I could find a statistic with the
breastfeeding failure rate comparing the hospital discharge rate with 6
weeks or 2 months? Ross's figures are hospital discharge and six months.
Health People 2000 get their statistics from Ross Mothers' Survey, Abbott
Labs. I want to compare the rate of failure of my study group (which was 0)
with a national rate which must be referenced. Thanks for your assistance!
Susan Chase, RN, BSN, ICCE, CD (Master's in nursing candidate)
Pennsylvania State Unversity
State College, PA
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