A recent CDC survey identified maternity practices that interfere with breast-feeding.
In Healthy People 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services set forth the following breast-feeding goals: 75% of mothers will breast-feed in the early postpartum period, 50% at 6 months, and 25% at 1 year after delivery. In addition, 60% of mothers will exclusively breast-feed for the first 3 months and 25% for the first 6 months. Only four states (Alaska, Montana, Oregon, and Washington) have achieved this goal during the first half of this decade.
In 2007, the CDC surveyed 2546 hospitals and 121 birth centers about intrapartum practices. The person from each facility most knowledgeable about the facility’s infant feeding and maternity practices responded to questions grouped into the following seven categories: (1) labor and d…