Breast-Feeding 101 and 102 "BOOKS ON HEALTH,
By JOHN LANGONE, New York Times, January 21, 2003

Review of :
"The American Academy of Pediatrics New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding," edited by Dr. Joan Younger Meek with Sherill Tippins. Bantam Books, $13.95.

"A century ago, a majority of American women breast-fed their infants, and more than half of all babies were still being breast-fed beyond the first year of life.

But as glass bottles, rubber nipples and formulas became available ? and as more women began working outside the home ? breast-feeding rates hit a record low.
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Today, the contributors to this excellent guide say, about 68 percent of American newborns are nourished by their mothers' milk.

But again, conflicts with work and lack of support, along with concerns about breast-feeding, have forced many women to give up nursing early.

Of the American newborns breast-fed in 2000, the authors note, only about 31 percent were still nursing at 6 months, and fewer than 18 percent by a year...."