BBC Radio Sheffield & BBC Woman’s Hour – Feeding your Baby Poll January 2019

A survey of women in the UK on feeding their baby.

Despite four in ten women saying they planned to exclusively breastfeed their baby (40%), three in ten women exclusively breastfed their baby after they were born (29%), four in ten both breastfed and used formula (41%) and three in ten only used formula (29%).
Two thirds of women who breastfed their baby say it is one of the best parts of being a mother (66%), and half of women say it is one of the toughest parts (49%).
Half of women say they agree that they felt like they let their baby down when they struggled to breastfeed (50%), while one quarter of women say they disagree with this statement (24%).
Three quarters of women who formula-fed their baby say they agree that they enjoyed involving their partner/others in feeding their baby (76%), while only one in ten say they disagree (9%).
Half of women say the method of feeding their baby had no effect on their mental health (52%), while three in ten say it had a positive effect (30%) and one in seven say it had a negative effect (15%).

Date Published: 29/01/2019

Categories: Health | Public and communities | Social | UK

Client: BBC Radio Sheffield & BBC Woman’s Hour

Methodology

ComRes surveyed 1,162 women in the UK, aged 18-40 who had a baby in the last 10 years, online between 13th and 18th December 2018. Data were weighted to be representative of all British adults aged 18+ by age, gender and region. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.