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CDC: Hospitals should adopt breast-feeding policies

CDC. MMWR. 2011; 60(30):1020-1025.

Hospitals should back policies that promote breast-feeding, according to a CDC study published online.

“Because nearly all births in the United States occur in hospitals, improvements in hospital policies and practices could increase rates of exclusive and continued breast-feeding nationwide, contributing to improved child health, including lower rates of obesity,” according to researchers from the CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity.

The researchers looked at survey data compiled by the CDC from 2007 and 2009, which assessed the facilities using care practices consistent with “Ten Steps to Successful Breast-feeding,” which outline best practices in maternity care.

In 2009, 93% of staff members at most hospitals provided prenatal breast-feeding education and 89% of facility staff taught mothers breast-feeding techniques, the researchers said.

“However, few hospitals had breast-feeding policies (14%), limited breast-feeding supplement use (22%) or supported mothers postdischarge (27%),” the researchers wrote in their study. They noted only slight increases between 2007 and 2009, from 2.4% to 3.5%.

The researchers said increasing the proportion of mothers who breast-feed is one important way to fight the epidemic of obesity currently affecting the nation’s children, as a child’s risk of becoming obese decreases with each month of breast-feeding.

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