More Women Try Breastfeeding, Far Fewer Continue

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued this press release and this item in Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report to indicate that more women than ever (or, since the 3rd quarter of 2001, when they started collecting the data via this particular survey) at least try to breastfeed their newborns. According to this piece, it’s actually the highest rate of breastfeeding initiation since statistics on this in general started being kept in the 1950s. So, not so much highest *ever* in history, but highest in the last half-century, since infant formula came on the scene and became widely available.

The Editorial Note lists some other major limitations to the survey findings, particularly that the information on breastfeeding behavior is dependent on mothers and other caregivers remembering and reporting accurately on what was done in the past. The results were also different from another prominent survey on breastfeeding, and the editors note that investigation into these differences is warranted.

With that out of the way, the researchers found:
For infants born in 2000-
-70.9% were breastfed in the hospital prior to discharge (initiation of breastfeeding)
-34.2% were still being breastfed at 6 months
-Only 15.7% were still being breastfed at 1 year.
For infants born in 2004-
-These rates had consistently increased to 73.8% (initiation), 41.5% (6 months), and 20.9% (12 months), respectively
-Rates for exclusive breastfeeding through ages 3 and 6 months were 30.5% and 11.3%, respectively, among infants born in 2004
-Rates of exclusive breastfeeding through age 3 months were lowest among black infants (19.8%) and among infants of mothers who were aged <20 years (16.8%), had a high school education or less (22.9% and 23.9%, respectively), were unmarried (18.8%), resided in rural areas (23.9%), and had an income-to-poverty ratio of <100% (23.9%)

The government has a set of objectives for the nation’s health, the Healthy People 2010 goals. These data represent nearly achieving the goal of 75% of breastfeeding initiation, but fall short of exclusive breastfeeding goals of 60% at 3 months and 25% at 6 months. Meanwhile, the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization recommend that all children be exclusively breastfed until 6 months and continue breastfeeding to 1 year and beyond, with WHO suggesting breastfeeding until 2 years of age for maximum benefit.

Now, I understand that some parents adopt, some women cannot breastfeed, and some simply choose not to. This data is about how well we’re adhering with what’s recommended, and I want to address the point about disparities in breastfeeding rates. Women who were young, poor, rural, less educated, black, or unmarried were less likely to breastfeed. What do all of those women have in common? Barriers to support. Women who are poor and less educated are less likely to work in jobs with cushy perks like paid maternity leave, flex-time, lactation rooms, or even breaks and privacy that would allow for pumping. While raising awareness has been going on for some time, knocking down barriers and educating employers is an obvious next step for meeting the national targets.