Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) have issued strong guidance on the importance of breastfeeding for protection against the H1N1 swine flu. The CDC states, “Infants who are not breastfeeding are particularly vulnerable to infection and hospitalization for severe respiratory illness.”
Thus, the CDC urges new mothers to initiate breastfeeding early and to feed frequently. Mothers already breastfeeding should continue to do so, even if they become ill. Formula feeding should be avoided or minimized and breastfeeding maximized. In the Health News Digest, USBC Chair Joan Younger Meek, MD, MS, …read more

Over 2,000 mothers were studied from the third trimester of pregnancy through the first year of their infants’ lives. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveyed the mothers about their infant feeding practices. Results from this Infant Feeding Practices Study II will be available publicly from the CDC at the end of 2008, but in the meantime the American Academy of Pediatrics reports:
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 …read more

Study results just released yesterday indicate that the breastfeeding rate in the United States has risen to three out of every four mother-baby pairs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reported the breastfeeding initiation rate at 77% for babies born in 2005-2006. Key points of the report include:
~ The percentage of infants who were ever breastfed increased from 60% among infants who were born in 1993-1994 to 77% among infants who were born in 2005-2006.
~ Breastfeeding rates increased significantly among non-Hispanic black women from 36% in 1993-1994 to 65% in …read more