A third more mothers breastfeed as far fewer leave baby for return to work

A survey also shows fathers are getting much more involved with the upbringing of their children.

Scientific studies have shown breastfeeding is much more beneficial for babies than feeding them formula milk.

Among the advantages are the transmission of the mother's immunities and the help it gives in brain development.

Researchers say the findings demonstrate how positively the 'Breast is Best' message is influencing parental decisionmaking.

However, they say better support, consistent advice in the early days after giving birth and a change in attitude to breastfeeding in public is still required to keep numbers rising.

Two-thirds of mothers in the survey said they breastfed their baby in the first year, either solely or partly.

When asked why they did so, 92 per cent said it was because breast milk was the healthiest option for the baby.

Almost a half said they found it the easiest option and a quarter said it was "cheapest".

A further 23 per cent said they breastfed to help get their body back into shape.

The survey of 2,079 women also showed that most fathers are happy to take on the responsibility of looking after their children.

Only 10 per cent of new mothers claimed their partners were never interested in feeding their baby, compared with 50 per cent in the 1970s.

And almost half of mothers nowadays said their partner was very involved when it came to duties such as changing nappies.

Women are more likely to use a mixture of breast and bottle feeding than they used to.

This year, 30 per cent of mothers "combination fed" - compared with 15 per cent in the 1970s.

Vicki Scott, of babycare company Philips Avent, which carried out the survey, said: "It is an interesting social trend that combining breast and bottle feeding is increasingly popular as today's mums opt for greater flexibility.

"Expressing allows mothers to leave a bottle of their breast milk when they are not there to breastfeed.

"And with today's dads being more supportive and more prepared to be involved than ever before, expressing also helps partners to take an active role in feeding early on.

"I believe that anything that encourages women to breastfeed is a good thing for mother and baby and expressing or combination feeding help women to breastfeed for longer."

Dr Geoff Lawson, a paediatrician at Sunderland Royal Hospital, welcomed the findings.

He said: "Among the benefits are immunity, optimal brain development and optimal growth. Not to mention the social benefits of bonding between mother and baby.

"No one ever says breast feeding is easy but it so very, very worthwhile because of the huge number of proven benefits."

The survey also found the number of mothers returning to work within three months of birth has dramatically declined by nearly two thirds over the past ten years.

And over the same period, the number of women taking a year off has more than doubled.