Proportion of women who initiated breastfeeding, by age group, Canada, 2009/2010

*Women who gave birth in the five years preceding the survey; denominators exclude responses of “do not know”, “not stated”, and refusal to answer.

Source: CICH graphic created using data adapted from Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey, 2007, 2007-2008, and 2009-2010. http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getInstanceList&Id=238854 – accessed July 21, 2017.

According to the Canadian Community Health Survey, 87% of women who had given birth in the 5 years prior to the 2009/10 survey, had initiated breastfeeding after giving birth.

Older women were slightly more likely to breastfeed than most groups of younger women.

The lowest rate was among 20 to 24 year olds, at 84%. The highest rate was among 40 to 49 year olds at 90%.