Hospital Support for Breastfeeding Improving Nationwide
This year's Breastfeeding Report Card reveals that hospital support for breastfeeding has improved. Since 2009 47 states and the District of Columbia have increased their score on CDC's Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care survey, which measures the degree to which practices in U.S. hospitals support breastfeeding. Additionally, births at Baby-Friendly hospitals have increased from 1.93 percent in 2008 to 6.22 percent in 2012.
This year's Report Card also found that the percent of mothers who start breastfeeding increased from 74.6 percent in 2008 to 76.9 percent in 2009, the largest one-year increase in these rates in a decade. But the expanse between mothers starting and continuing to breastfeed is wide. Nationally, less than half (47%) of mothers are still breastfeeding at 6 months, and only one-quarter (25%) are still breastfeeding at 12 months.
Also, breastfeeding rates among states vary greatly. Less than half of mothers start breastfeeding in Mississippi. And in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and West Virginia less than a third of mothers are still breastfeeding at six months. But in Idaho more than 90 percent of mothers start breastfeeding, and in New Hampshire, Oregon, Utah and Vermont 60 percent or more mothers are still breastfeeding at six months. Continued support for breastfeeding, with a focus on hospital support, is one way to improve breastfeeding rates and should continue to be a priority. While the number of births in Baby-Friendly hospitals is increasing, most U.S. hospitals still lack this designation, and this indicates that mothers are not getting the quality of care they need.
To learn more about what you can do to help improve support for breastfeeding, visit:
- Breastfeeding Report Card - United States, 2012
- CDC Vital Signs - Hospital Support for Breastfeeding
- HHS breastfeeding info