The level of breast-feeding in the Capital is almost double that of the national average, while pregnant women in the Capital continue to make better mothers than those in other areas.

Statistics show that only 13 per cent of pregnant women smoke in the city, compared to a 24 per cent national mean, while babies born with a low weight are also rarer than the rest of the country.

Various studies have shown that breast-feeding can lead to improved health in babies.

The latest statistics released in the Scottish Government's health and wellbeing profiles come as a terrific boost for NHS Lothian, which has run a number of breast-feeding initiatives in recent years.

Experts said the reason for the superior rates was because, by-and-large, Edinburgh has less deprivation than other areas of the country, while the health board has been proactive in encouraging mums to breast-feed and providing follow-up support and advice.

The Simpson's Centre for Reproductive Health, based at the ERI, won a Unicef Baby Friendly Award this year for its commitment to encouraging mums to breast-feed. Staff there were also praised for support offered to mothers through the tougher elements of breast-feeding.

More than 42 per cent of mothers exclusively breast-fed when their babies were aged between six and eight weeks, compared to only 27.1 per cent nationwide.

However, the rate of teenage pregnancies in Edinburgh was above the Scottish average.

Child dental health among infants was also better, although obesity rates were slightly higher, thought to be around one in ten.

Edinburgh-based Cynthia Clarkson, maternity services convener with the National Childbirth Trust, said: "In the society we live in today it is harder for women to breast-feed and they need that encouragement and support.

"If we were in a more primitive age where everyone lived with their mothers and cousins and so on then young women would see how to breast-feed and learn that way, but now often a woman's first contact with a baby is her first born. That is why the support is so important.

"The other factors are social and economic. Edinburgh is obviously the financial capital of Scotland and there isn't as much deprivation as there is in, say, Glasgow or Lanarkshire.

"Research has shown in the past that women who have been educated for longer and are better off are more likely to breast-feed and less likely to smoke during pregnancy."

The Scottish Government target is to have 32.7 per cent of mothers breast-feeding by 2011.