CDC researchers report on trends in hospital breastfeeding policies

New Rochelle, NY, March 18, 2019–A new study from the CDC showed modest improvement in optimal hospital breastfeeding policy from 2009 to 2015, with more than 2 times as many hospitals having a model breastfeeding policy and increases in early initiation of breastfeeding and limitation of non-breast milk feeds of breastfed infants. Despite a nearly 4 times increase in the percentage of hospitals not receiving free infant formula, more than 70% still do, according to the article published in Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Click here to read the full-text article free on the Breastfeeding Medicine website through April 18, 2019.

Jennifer Nelson, MD, MPH and Daurice Grossniklaus, PhD, Med, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA) coauthored the article entitled “Trends in Hospital Breastfeeding Policies in the United States from 2009-2015: Results from the mPINC Survey.” The researchers analyzed data from the Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) survey on hospital-based breastfeeding-related practices and policies. These included the existence of a model policy on breastfeeding, individual elements of a policy, and how a policy is communicated to hospital staff.

“This statistical improvement, while gratifying, indicates just how much further the United States has to go in implementing hospital-based breastfeeding support policies,” says Arthur I. Eidelman, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine.

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About the Journal

Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, is an authoritative, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published 10 times per year in print and online. The Journal publishes original scientific papers, reviews, and case studies on a broad spectrum of topics in lactation medicine. It presents evidence-based research advances and explores the immediate and long-term outcomes of breastfeeding, including the epidemiologic, physiologic, and psychological benefits of breastfeeding. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Breastfeeding Medicine website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Women’s Health, Childhood Obesity, and Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News) was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publisher’s website.