Barriers that cause women to discontinue nursing too soon:

• Lack of support from the child's father
• Lack of support from family and friends
• Hospital practices that interfere with breastfeeding 
• Misperceptions about milk supply 
• No timely follow-up to questions or problems that arise after hospital discharge
• Lack of workplace support for breastfeeding
• Lack of acceptance by the community and society in general
• Widespread advertising and promotion of infant formula (free formula or coupons in hospital discharge packs, mailing coupons for free or discounted formula directly to new parents, television and magazine advertising)
• The common portrayal of bottle-feeding in the mass media