Wow, there are a lot of influences I think, but I have voted for lack of continuety of care.

I have breastfed both my children. My first till he was 3,5y and my 2nd 2,5y. But with my first it only happened because I have grown up with purely positive talk about breastfeeding. My Mum loved breastfeeding and always talked SO positively about it. My first ended up in nursery for whezzy breathing just after birth and although most of their words were positive of breastfeeding, the conditions were really bad. They basically just treated me as naive for thinking I would successfully BF. They kept him in nursery for breastfeeding problems and I had a crap LC whom I hadn't invited. I just wanted them to leave me alone, so I could get on with my breastfeeding relationship with my son. I didn't doubt my feeding ability for one moment and that got me through. I had to have someone watching me every time I tried to feed, because they thought I was cheating with how much he was feeding. Anyway, to cut a long story short, as soon as I came home he fed beautifully.

So I think that support is sorely missing and that would come naturally if you had continuety of care. But obviously the cares attitude is also vital.

Cheers Pernille