Proportion of women who were breastfeeding at six months postpartum, by characteristics, Canada, 2006/2007
Note:
The Maternity Experiences Survey (MES) population consisted of birth mothers 15 years of age and older who had a singleton live birth in Canada during a three-month period preceding the 2006 Canadian Census of Population and who lived with their infant at the time of data collection. Using the 2006 Canadian Census, a stratified random sample of 8,244 women estimated to be eligible was identified. Of these women, 6,421 (78%) completed a 45-minute interview at five to 14 months after the birth of their baby, conducted primarily by telephone.
Source: CICH graphic created using data adapted from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Maternal Experiences Survey, 2006-2007. http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/rhs-ssg/pdf/tab-eng.pdf – accessed July 21, 2017.
In 2006/07, 53.9% of Canadian women were breastfeeding their infants at 6 months postpartum.
There is a clear gradient of increasing likelihood to breastfeed at six months with increasing maternal age. Older mothers were more likely than younger mothers to be breastfeeding at 6 months. In fact, women who were 40 or older were three times as likely to be breastfeeding at six months than were women 15 to 19 years of age.
There is also a clear gradient of increasing likelihood to breastfeed at six months with increasing levels of formal education. Women who were university graduates were more than twice as likely to be breastfeeding at six months than those with less than a high school education.
Poor women were less likely to be breastfeeding at 6 months than were women who were not poor. 56% of women whose household income was above the LICO were breastfeeding at 6 months compared with 47.3% of women whose household income was at the LICO or below.