A prospective cohort study of 1,520 mothers from Zhejiang province of
China was undertaken to determine the duration of breastfeeding and
associated factors during the first six months postpartum. Most (95.3%)
mothers had introduced complementary foods by six months, making them
at risk from contaminated infant formula. The mean duration of
\u2018any breastfeeding\u2019 was greater than 180 days but only 48
days for \u2018exclusive breastfeeding\u2019. Factors relating to
cessation of any breastfeeding were maternal age, timing of the
breastfeeding decision, admission of the infant to a special-care
nursery, return of the mother to work, the early introduction of water
and/or other complementary foods, and their location of residence. The
introduction of infant formula before three months was positively
associated with the late decision to breastfeed, births in city, and
infants being given a prelacteal feed. To combat the melamine disaster,
strategies to improve the duration of breastfeeding must be developed
taking these factors into account