This finding suggests that maternal nutritional status had little impact on the lactation performance at these planes of nutrition. We have presented evidence that before the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative was implemented in Mexico, the proportion of urban mothers commencing breastfeeding was low, exclusive breastfeeding was rare, and the average total duration of breastfeeding was three months. In addition, the marketing practices of formula manufacturers and the practices and policies of both public and private hospitals were detrimental to breastfeeding. All of these measures improved after the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative was introduced. This substantial improvement is seen as a consequence of national and international efforts.
Mothers are the chief decision makers in choosing the mode of infant feeding.
A lack of adequate support and appropriate advice seems to be responsible, in part, for the short duration of breastfeeding. The energy intake of exclusively breastfed infants is below reported requirements during the first days postpartum. It is associated with a loss of body weight, which might be misinterpreted by mothers as an inability to fulfil their infants' needs, leading them to stop lactation or to introduce some formula feedings. Lactation, physiology, nutrition, and breast-feeding. Plenum Press, 1983.