BRSFEDUR_ALL variables are 2-digit variables.

See BRSFEDUR_01 for the codes for these variables.

Description

BRSFEDUR_ALL (M4_x) reports the calculated months of breastfeeding, for women who gave birth in the last three to five years and were no longer breastfeeding the child.

BRSFEDUR_ALL consists of a set of six separate variables, covering the most recent birth (BRSFEDUR_01) up to the sixth-most-recent birth (i.e., BRSFEDUR_02, BRSFEDUR_03, BRSFEDUR_04, BRSFEDUR_05, and BRSFEDUR_06) during the reference period prior to the survey. If BRSFEDUR_ALL is included in a data extract, all these separate variables are included in a researcher's data file.

For surveys including this question, information for this variable was collected on all births, up to a maximum of six, in the reference period. In many cases, data were hypothetically collected on up to six births, but no women in the survey had so many births (e.g., no woman had 4 or more births in 3 years, or had 5 or 6 births in 5 years). If, for example, no woman in a survey had 6 births in five years and only blank values were included in the original DHS file, then BRSFEDUR_06 would not be available for that survey in IPUMS-DHS.

The related variable BRSFEDMO_ALL differs by including women who were still breastfeeding at the time of the interview. The variable BRSFEDCAT_ALL provides categorical information about breastfeeding, reporting whether the woman ever breastfed, and, if so, whether she is still breastfeeding.

The maximum period allowed for BRSFEDUR_ALL during the data editing (by survey administrators) was the interval between the date of birth of the child and the date of interview. For Phase I, cases that exceeded the allowed maximum period were set to "Inconsistent." For Phase II forward, inconsistent durations were left in place, but such cases were flagged in BRSFDFLAG_ALL and were set to "Inconsistent" in BRSFEDMO_ALL. In Phase II only, for Model "A" countries, the "breastfed until died" category was not used.

Comparability — Index

Comparability

BRSFEDUR_ALL (M4_x) changes over time in how the data were edited, and top-coded values depend on the (varying) ages of children included in the inquiry.

As noted in the Description tab, the maximum period allowed for BRSFEDUR_ALL during the data editing (by survey administrators) was the interval between the date of birth of the child and the date of interview. For Phase I, cases that exceeded the allowed maximum period were set to "Inconsistent." For Phase II forward, inconsistent durations were left in place, but such cases were flagged in BRSFDFLAG_ALL and were set to "Inconsistent" in BRSFEDMO_01. In Phase II only, for Model "A" countries, the "breastfed until died" category was not used.

The maximum number of months reported depends on the cut-off age for children included in the child health inquiry. Thus, for samples including children under age 5, the number of months of breastfeeding is top-coded at 60; for samples including children under age 4, the top-code is 48 months; for samples including children under age 3, the top-code is 36 months. See the Universe tab for details on samples of interest.

Comparability - Standard DHS

BRSFEDUR_ALL (M4_x) is included in the standard DHS questionnaire for Phase 1 through Phase V, using the question "For how many months did you breastfeed (child)?" Beginning in Phase VI, most surveys reported breastfeeding behavior in the broad categories of BRSFEDCAT_ALL.

Universe