Women are being set "idealistic and unhelpful" targets for breast-feeding, researchers say today.
Globally, women are encouraged to keep babies using the breast for at least six months.
A study in Scotland, UK, says there is a gap between the ideal – which many women set out to achieve – and the reality.
The findings come from a series of interviews with 36 women and their families. The women were interviewed in the last month of pregnancy until six months after birth.
Some of the women said they felt "pressured" to breast-feed while their partners said the information they received before birth did not prepare them for the problems they experienced.
The researchers found women felt under pressure to change feeding habits to deal with changes in babies’ crying, feeding or sleep patterns.
Writing in BMJ Open, Dr Pat Hoddinott, of Aberdeen University, says: "We would argue that it is time to revisit this debate for infant feeding, if we are to design and deliver successful interventions to improve infant feeding outcomes and subsequent health outcomes of future generations."
Journal editor Dr Trish Groves said: "We hope that parents, and anyone supporting mothers with breast feeding, will read the full paper. It provides first person accounts of how families actually feed their babies and how they feel about it, and the researchers have discussed their findings sensitively and in great depth."
Gail Johnson, of the Royal College of Midwives, said the evidence for the value of six months of breast-feeding was "unchanged".
She called on women not to see breast-feeding as an idealistic target.
She said: "Many women successfully exclusively breastfeed their babies, however for some families this isn’t what they choose to do, it is about personal choice which must be made based on the best evidence available and what is right for each family."
She added: "The long term health benefits of breastfeeding for both the mother and the baby will be lost without continued support and promotion of breastfeeding by midwives and other health professionals."
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