High Breastfeeding Rates

Throughout most of the history, breastfeeding has long been viewed as the gold-standard for infant feeding. Currently, major health organizations in the U.S. such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, 2012) and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP,2014) recommend exclusively up to six months, with continued breastfeeding along with complementary foods until at least 12 months of age by all major health organizations.
The most recent national data have shown high breastfeeding initiation rates in the U.S. among infants born in 2013, indicating the majority of mothers want to or try to breastfeed (Center for Disease Control and Prevention[CDC], 2016). However, breastfeeding rates decrease over time which implicates that numerous
Clearly, the significant drop in breastfeeding rates occurred in the first six months. The national data of maternity leave and employment patterns from U.S. Census Bureau have shown that 58.6% of women return to work within 3 months after birth and 72.9% of women return to work within 6 months (Laughlin, 2011). Data from CDC and U.S. Census Bureau strongly supported the negative impact of postpartum employment on breastfeeding intensity and duration. Women who return to work at any time during the six months postpartum is related to a shorter duration of breastfeeding than those who did not return (Dagher, McGovern, Schold & Randall,
In 2007, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) report reaffirmed the health benefits associated with breastfeeding (Meyers, 2009). For infants, breastfeeding reduces the rates of acute and chronic illness incidence that occur in infancy and has extensive benefits into childhood and even adulthood with the decreased rates of eczema, obesity, type 2 diabetes and childhood leukemias compared to formula-fed infants. For the mothers, breastfeeding is associated with lower rates of type 2 diabetes, breast, and ovarian cancer, and stronger emotional bonding with infants (Meyers, 2009; AAP, 2012). More importantly, AHRQ report has shown a dose-related protective effect between health outcomes and women’s duration and intensity of breastfeeding, confirming the importance of supporting exclusively breastfeeding up to six months. In addition to the health advantages of breastfeeding, increasing rates of breastfeeding can lower health care cost by reducing the prevalence of illnesses. The United States would save $13 billion annually from reduced medical costs if 90% of U.S. families followed guidelines to breastfeed exclusively for six months (USDHHS, 2011).
Given the substantial presence of mothers in the labor force, early weaning of breastfeeding in this population, and the overwhelming benefits of recommend breastfeeding intensity and duration, there is strong need to implement strategies to overcome the modifiable