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new research examines breastfeeding in Spain during the second half of the 20th century. Experts associate its evolution with factors sociodemographic as the incorporation of women into the workplace, the recommendations of the workforce, the extension of maternity leave and the level of studies.

Murcia, 2011-September “ almost indispensable, maternal breastfeeding for child survival not many years ago, has varied during the second half of the 20th century due mainly to the emergence of artificial feeding ”, explains to SINC Juan Ramón Ordoñana, researcher at the University of Murcia and lead author of the study.

The paper, recently published in the Journal of Human Lactation, analyzes how rates of breast-feeding in the region of Murcia, and by extension in Spain, in recent decades, have evolved if behaved like women who had children in the 1960s ’ than that did in the 1980s ’ or 90 ’.

The average duration of breastfeeding has changed over the period studied. “ Find a chart with U-shaped ”, says Ordoñana. “ Higher breastfeeding durations were found in the early 1960s ’ (61.3% more than six months) and at the end of the 90 ’ (29% for the same duration) and the lowest in the 1970s ’ and 80 ’ (14.4 per cent and 19.2 per cent, respectively) ”.

The authors studied 666 women who had been mother for the first time since the beginning of the 60 ’ until the end of the last century. In addition to collecting information on the feeding of their children, experts took sociodemographic data, primarily the level of study that had been achieved.

“ The effect of a higher educational level on the duration of breastfeeding is not always the same and depends on the social context in which produces ”, stresses Ordoñana.

Thus, women with a medium or higher level of studies decreased the duration of breastfeeding drastically at the beginning of the 1970s ’ and their rates matched the women with fewer studies in the decades of 1970s ’ and 80 ’. However, subsequently presented a strong tendency to the increase (from 3.4 per cent) remained until the end of the century.

The authors explain these results in the greater ease of women with higher levels of studies to assimilate messages of health personnel about the benefits of breastfeeding. “ Is also likely that the conditions of their work, their economic status and their greater access to health services facilitate the maintenance of breast-feeding if they so wished ”, stress.

The importance of the social changes

The investigation relates these results with the social changes and their impact on women. For example, has gone from a large family structure, where lived several generations women and supported each other in the “ art of milk ”, a nuclear family, where women have increasingly emotional and instrumental support from its partner, but not so much with other women.

Also, experts associated with this evolution with the progressive incorporation of women to the world of work, the movement towards the recovery of the natural appearing at the end of the 90 ’, the extension of maternity leave and a large number of socio-cultural factors that have influenced the behaviour of women before the arrival of their baby.

In addition, recommendations of health personnel on the food of the newborns have ranged from artificial feeding during the 1970s ’ and 80 ’, the subsequent promotion of breastfeeding, because of the health benefits that were found and the recommendations of the World Health Organization to extend up to six months at least.

Bibliographic reference:

This study is part of the registry of twins of Murcia project, whose objective is to analyze the relative contribution of both genetic and environmental factors in the development of health-related behaviors. Twins registry, Murcia receives funding from the Seneca Foundation – agency science and technology in the region of Murcia and the Ministry of science and innovation.