Among the study findings were that one-fourth of mothers do not place their child on their backs to sleep, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and 34 percent regularly co-slept with their infants. In addition, only 8 percent of mothers experienced six “baby-friendly” hospital practices that encourage and assist mothers with breastfeeding. The more of these practices experienced, the greater the likelihood that mothers would breastfeed for six weeks or longer. Pertaining to food practices, nearly all mothers who fed their infants formula used an iron-fortified product, and more than 20 percent of infants had a food-related health problem, including 6 percent with allergies.

It is not at all surprising to me that mothers are not receiving proper encouragement and assistance in hospitals for breastfeeding. Those findings are consistent with the 2007 CDC National Survey of Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care, which found that 70 percent of birth facilities continue to undermine breastfeeding by marketing formula to new mothers.

Those findings are also consistent with my experience when I prepared to give birth this past July. I researched Baby-Friendly Hospitals and did not find any in my area. When I examined the breastfeeding rates in the hospitals near me, they were disappointingly low. I was glad to have a home birth and a successful start to breastfeeding.

Hopefully the results of the Infant Feeding Practices Study II will inspire additional practice-specific research and lead to greater support for breastfeeding.

Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3

“Henry is still exclusively breastfeeding. He hasn’t even tried formula. And I’m amazed at how fast these six months have flown by in the breastfeeding realm. I remember with Kira that exclusively nursing her for six months felt a bit like running a marathon. (I presume, anyhow. No marathon running for me.) But with Henry, overall the nursing has been pretty easy and it hasn’t felt like a strain at all. I feel as if I could keep going exclusively for a lot longer. Probably part of the reason for that is that I have more milk this time around, in addition to the extra experience.

For his sake, I’m glad that he will be able to start eating solid foods. When we are eating, he will watch every single motion that we make. It’s obvious that he wants to eat like us! It’s so obvious that it’s guilt producing. You almost feel like you should apologize because you’re being so selfish with your food. Even so, I’m laughing slightly right now in anticipation of his first taste of solid food. I’m expecting either a grimace or a big look of surprise. We’ve already given him a sippy cup with a small bit of water in it and the look on his face when he tasted the water was priceless. So funny.”

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Post from: Breastfeeding 1-2-3