Of the almost 4 million babies born each year in the USA, 14% are born in Baby-Friendly hospitals. The report also delves into how crucial continued support is once women are sent home from the hospital.
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That finding is concerning, for research has shown that hospitals can play a major role in increasing breastfeeding rates.
“Breastfeeding has vast health benefits for babies and their mothers”, says CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden.
Breastfed babies have reduced risks of ear, respiratory, stomach, and intestinal infections; asthma, obesity, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Also, mothers that breastfeed are less likely to get breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
In 2013, more than half of US hospitals were meeting at least five of 10 standard recommendations for hospitals to support breastfeeding. Only 29 percent of babies are breastfed for the recommended 12 months.
The introduction of infant formula led many women to stop breastfeeding in the 1950s and ’60s.
This Vital Signs report examined data from CDC’s national survey, Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC), which measures the percentage of US hospitals with practices that are consistent with the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.
Minnesota’s neighbor to the south, Iowa, is in the next lowest group, with only 20 percent to less than 40 percent of its hospitals implementing a majority of the guidelines’ steps.
The survey asked hospitals if they were implementing the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding program, which is part of the World Health Organization/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. DC = District of Columbia; IT = Island Territories, including American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Virgin Islands; PR = Puerto Rico. Barely one in four hospitals in the country have an official policy on breastfeeding. It contains all the necessary vitamins, nutrients, and disease-fighting substances for growth and health.
A number of the steps embody educating pregnant ladies about breastfeeding, serving to them provoke breastfeeding inside an hour of supply and conserving mothers with their newborns all all through their keep within the hospital. “They can counsel mothers on breastfeeding during prenatal visits and include lactation care providers on patient care teams”.
Encourage breastfeeding on demand (87.3 percent).
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The report said that just 32% of hospitals have enough support programs in place to assist breastfeeding mothers after they leave the hospital.
