4. Breastfeeding is treated as a personal choice. According to the World Health Organization, while French women are breastfeeding more today than they were a decade ago, they still fall short of the recommendations: at least six months of breastfeeding. In France, women often breastfeed just shy of three months.
Another reason French women don't breastfeed is that they simply don't like doing it, it appears. A study in 2014 found that 41 percent of French women found breastfeeding in public to be embarrassing, compared to just 18 percent in the UK and US.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), exclusive breastfeeding (children only receiving breast milk and no other food or drink) should last until the infant is 6 months old and partial breastfeeding should continue up to 2 years of age.
Saudi Arabia. In strict Islamic regimes, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, breastfeeding in public is forbidden. On the flipside of this law, breastfeeding is also seen as a religious duty. The Quran specifies that babies should be breastfed by their mothers or a wet nurse for approximately two years.
Croatia has the highest rate of breastfeeding in the entire world. More than 98 percent of all babies are breastfed starting at birth. Some of the other countries that also have very high rates of breastfeeding include Rwanda, Chile, and Burundi. All of these countries have breastfeeding rates greater than 80 percent.
In France, women often breastfeed just shy of three months. That's because most women return to work at that time, since maternity leave is usually 10 to 13 weeks. Recent stats show that only 19 percent of mothers are still breastfeeding at six months.
The World Health Organization encourages new mothers to continue breastfeeding for up to two years, and globally around 60 percent of women are still breastfeeding at this point. However, only 63 percent of French mothers ever start breastfeeding, and typically stop after just 17 weeks.
LONDON — Only 1 in 200 women in the U.K., or 0.5 percent, breastfeed their children until they are 1 year old — the lowest rate in the world.
Looking at non-exclusive breastfeeding: 69% of babies are receiving some breastmilk at 4 months of age. 60% of babies are receiving some at 6 months. 28% of babies are still breastfeeding at 12 months.
Within developing countries, poorer mothers breastfeed longer, in developed countries, wealthy mothers are more likely to nurse longer.
In China, the rates and duration of exclusive breastfeeding are still relatively low in many areas. A survey conducted in the central and western regions of China reported a rate of exclusive breastfeeding of 58.3% for newborns (aged 0 to 27 days), which declined to 29.1% at 3–4 months and 13.6% at 5–6 months [1].
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers feed their babies only breast milk for six months and continue breastfeeding for at least one year. After that, it really depends on how long the mother and child want to continue.
France's rules on breastfeeding in public
Breastfeeding in public in France is in no way forbidden. The only mention of breastfeeding in French law is to state that it is allowed in work places for up to one year after the birth of a baby, with the employee also allowed to take one hour per day to breastfeed.
SUMMARY: Breakfast: one or more milk feeds of breastmilk or formula of 180 ml. Lunch: vegetables then milk feed (the milk feed will reduce as the vegetables portion increases) Goûter (Snack): milk feed of 180 to 210ml, then compote, 8 days after introduction of vegetables.
In her book Inventing Baby Food: Taste, Health, and the Industrialization of the American Diet, Amy Bentley argues that distaste for public breastfeeding in the US began with the sexualization of female breasts in the 19th century and was accelerated by the rise in processed baby food occurring around the same time.
The practice was considered old-fashioned and "a little disgusting" for those who could not afford infant formula and discouraged by medical practitioners and media of the time.
Myth: Babies who have been breastfed are clingy.
Breastfeeding provides not only the best nutrition for infants, but is also important for their developing brain. Breastfed babies are held a lot and because of this, breastfeeding has been shown to enhance bonding with their mother.
If you do the math, a year of breastfeeding equates to a conservative estimate of 1,800 hours of a mother's time. This isn't far off from a full time job considering that a 40-hour work week with three weeks of vacation comes in at 1,960 hours of work time a year.
Sexual comfort
Although breastfeeding is not a sexual act, some people may perceive it as such, especially because female breasts are often sexualized. Thus, one's comfort level with sexual topics and reactions to sexual stimuli may influence their evaluations of breastfeeding (public breastfeeding in particular).
French parents create strong boundaries for their kids.
In the book "Bringing Up Bebe," author Pamela Druckerman wrote that French parents establish clear expectations of what is expected and what is unacceptable behavior from their kids at an early age.
Why Aka Pygmy Tribe Men Breastfeed Their Babies.
Reduced breastfeeding support, cuts in public health funding, negative attitude towards breastfeeding in public and a lack of knowledge of the health benefits of breast milk all contribute to Britain having some of the worst breastfeeding rates in the world.
Social disapproval of public breastfeeding is attributed to the sexualisation of the breast. Breasts have dual functions in Western contexts: as a body part that is sexually attractive and involved in sexual activity but that also provides milk and nurture to children [21].
In Italy, public breastfeeding is legal and accepted by many. In Italy, many mothers do not comply with breastfeeding recommendations. The promotion and support of breastfeeding is still necessary in Italy and still needs to be monitored with representative data.