About the Infant Feeding Survey   

The Infant Feeding Survey was conducted every five years between 1975 and 2010. The 2023 survey will be the ninth national survey of infant feeding practices. The survey will provide estimates on the incidence, prevalence, and duration of breastfeeding and other feeding practices adopted by mothers in the first year after their baby is born. DHSC has commissioned Ipsos to run the Infant Feeding Survey 2023.

All available data from previous surveys can be accessed on the UK Data Archive here. Reports and resources from the 2010 survey can be accessed on the NHS website here.

The findings from the 2023 survey will be published on Gov.uk.

What is the survey about?

The aim of the survey is to understand more about how mothers in England feed their babies and includes questions about; breastfeeding and use of formula, mothers’ thoughts and feelings about feeding, information and help mothers have received around feeding, other foods and drinks given to babies in their first year, pregnancy and the birth, as well as some lifestyle questions.

Who will take part in the survey?

DHSC and Ipsos will be contacting more than 20,000 mothers who have recently given birth to take part in this survey.

If you are selected to take part, an invitation to complete a questionnaire will be sent to you when your baby is around 9-12 weeks old. If you complete the first questionnaire, and consent to further contact, you will receive a second questionnaire when your baby is around 4-6 months and a third when your baby is around 8-10 months.

You will be able to take part if you receive an invitation letter to participate. We will only be contacting a random selection of mothers who gave birth in December 2023, so not all mothers will be receiving a survey. We will start sending the survey in February 2024 . If you do not wish for us to send you a survey, please complete the form on the opting out of the survey page.

Taking part in the survey is voluntary. If you choose not to take part, it will not affect any care you or your baby receive, and you don’t need to give us a reason.

How have you accessed my data?

Your personal data are held in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018. If you are invited to participate, our privacy notice explains your rights about how your information is used, and how you can get in touch. You can see the notice here.


Section 251 support has been given to process your personal information for this survey as recommended by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on advice from the Confidentiality Advisory Group. On behalf of DHSC, Ipsos has access to some of your personal information, including your name, address and mobile number. Ipsos will keep this information confidential and DHSC will not receive any of your personal identifiable information. This information will only be used for this survey. If you are invited to participate, you will receive a letter to your home address and may also receive text message reminders. These will include a unique link to take part online. Once the survey is over, Ipsos will destroy your contact details and any identifiable information.

What happens to my answers?

If you respond to the survey, your answers will be put together with the answers of other mothers and kept confidential by researchers at Ipsos (who run the survey on behalf of DHSC). Neither your name nor full address will be linked to your responses, and nobody will be able to identify you in any results that are published. Researchers analysing the results of the survey will use your postcode to undertake regional analysis of results. Fully anonymised datasets will be shared with DHSC.


If responses on the questionnaire were to suggest that you or someone else is at serious risk of harm, your details would be provided to the appropriate authority to investigate as part of our safeguarding duty.


Neither DHSC nor the medical staff who care for you or your baby will know you have taken part.


Section 251 support has been given to process personal information for this survey as recommended by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on advice from the Confidentiality Advisory Group. On behalf of DHSC, Ipsos has access to some personal information, including names, addresses and mobile numbers. Ipsos will keep this information confidential and DHSC will not receive any personal identifiable information. This information will only be used for this survey. Once the survey is over and results are published, Ipsos will destroy contact details and any identifiable information within three months.