evidence . . . is really significant to a mum\".

In clinic observations it was striking to hear weight described in relation to the chart centiles, as personal experience of having babies in the 1980s had led to the expectation that weight would be described in terms of number of ounces. In fact this latter sort of comment was not absent. Linda reported: \"He has put on eight or nine ounces a week\", while Emma described her son: \"He\'s fifteen pounds and two ounces and he\'s only four months\". However the relation to the centile was often the measure presented to mothers, for example one health visitor said, \"Look at the chart, she is doing fantastic -- she is following along the line here.\" Another spoke directly to the. . he dropped off from his high birth weight and now he\'s back up to the same line as when he was born . . . so I would say probably seeing it plotted on the graph \[is more meaningful\].\"

By the second interview (when the baby was three months old) Rosemary commented, \"I now take some notice of the chart . . . somebody\'s explained it and I\'ve read it properly\". At the third interview most women tended to find the chart useful, now that, as Una noted, \"There\'s more points\", indicating that the fuller picture had more meaning. Of course, by six months, many feeding and care decisions had already been taken.

Mothers of second babies had had experience of learning about the centiles with their first