Breastfeeding data: January to March 2025
Data includes breastfeeding status at birth, 10 days, 6 to 8 weeks, and 6 months by local health board for January to March 2025.
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Main points
Breastfeeding rates have risen this quarter for all ages except at 6 months, which has decreased since the previous quarter; with breastfeeding at birth, 10 days and 6 weeks being the highest on record.
Figure 1: Breastfeeding rates by age of child, July 2014 to March 2025
Description of Figure 1: Line chart showing the percentage of babies breastfed at each age point has increased steadily over the last decade, with highest levels recorded for each age point seen over the last year.
Source: National Community Child Health Database (NCCHD)
At birth, the breastfeeding rate for Wales was 65.9%. This is an increase of 1.5 percentage points since the previous quarter, an increase of 2.0 percentage points on the same quarter last year, and an increase of 8.3 percentage points on the first quarter for which there is comparable data (July to September 2014).
At 10 days, the breastfeeding rate for Wales was 58.8%. This is an increase of 0.7 percentage points on the previous quarter, an increase of 2.4 percentage points on the same quarter last year, and an increase of 14.2 percentage points on the first quarter for which there is comparable data (July to September 2014).
At 6 weeks, the breastfeeding rate for Wales was 46.2%. This is an increase of 0.5 percentage points on the previous quarter, an increase of 5.4 percentage points on the same quarter last year, and an increase of 15.6 percentage points on the first quarter for which there is comparable data (July to September 2014).
At 6 months, the breastfeeding rate for Wales was 32.8%. This is a decrease of 0.9 percentage points on the previous quarter, but an increase of 1.5 percentage points on the same quarter last year, and an increase of 14.4 percentage points on the first quarter for which there is comparable data (July to September 2015).
Note there is a high proportion of missing data at 6 weeks and at 6 months, although this is now reducing. For the latest quarter 14.1% and 15.8% of records had no breastfeeding status, respectively.
Contact details
Statistician: Craig Thomas
Email: stats.healthinfo@gov.wales
Media: 0300 025 8099