NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Sept 08 - Women who give birth at U.S. hospitals and birthing centers with a "Baby-Friendly" designation are more likely than other women to start breastfeeding, a new study shows.
The findings, published in Pediatrics, are good news for Baby-Friendly centers, which actively encourage women to breastfeed. The centers are part of a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization and United Nations that has laid out specific steps for hospitals and birthing centers to take to promote breastfeeding.
In the U.S., centers are deemed Baby-Friendly if they take 10 steps, which include helping all new mothers start breastfeeding within one hour of delivery, allowing mothers and infants to stay in the same room at all times, and giving newborns no food other than breast milk, unless medically necessary.
The new study looked at breastfeeding rates in 2001 at 29 U.S. hospitals and birthing centers that had a Baby-Friendly designation. On average, researchers found, 84% of new mothers at the centers started breastfeeding during their stay -- versus the national rate of 69.5% -- and most centers surpassed the breastfeeding-initiation rates for their local regions.
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