CDC SURVEY: 77 PERCENT OF NEW MOTHERS TRY BREASTFEEDING According to a CDC survey released last week, more than three-quarters of new mothers in the US breastfeed their infants for at least a brief period of time. The survey, part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, uses data from 434 infants. Indications are that the percentage of new mothers who try breastfeeding has steadily risen, from 60 percent in 1993-1994 to 77 percent in 2005 and 2006. The percentage of African American infants who were breastfed has increased from 36 to 65 percent during the same period, while the percentage of Hispanic breastfed infants increased from 67 to 80 percent. Rates are lowest among women who are low-income, rural, younger than age 20, unmarried and have a high school education or less. The survey did not report data on breastfeeding rates for infants six months of age and older. To access the report of this survey, go to http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db05.htm.
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BREASTFEEDING AND CHILD COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Context The evidence that breastfeeding improves cognitive development is based almost entirely on observational studies and is thus prone to confounding by subtle behavioral differences in the breastfeeding mother's behavior or her interaction with the infant.
Objective To assess whether prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding improves children's cognitive ability at age 6.5 years.
Design Cluster-randomized trial, with enrollment from June 17, 1996, to December 31, 1997, and follow-up from December 21, 2002, to April 27, 2005.
Participants A total of 17 046 healthy breastfeeding infants were enrolled, of whom 13 889 (81.5%) were followed up at age 6.5 years.
Main Outcome Measures Subtest and IQ scores on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence, and teacher evaluations of academic performance in reading, writing, mathematics, and other subjects.
Results The experimental intervention led to a large increase in exclusive breastfeeding at age 3 months (43.3% for the experimental group vs 6.4% for the control group; P < .001) and a significantly higher prevalence of any breastfeeding at all ages up to and including 12 months. The experimental group had higher means on all of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence measures, with cluster-adjusted mean differences (95% confidence intervals) of +7.5 (+0.8 to +14.3) for verbal IQ, +2.9 (?3.3 to +9.1) for performance IQ, and +5.9 (?1.0 to +12.8) for full-scale IQ. Teachers' academic ratings were significantly higher in the experimental group for both reading and writing.
Conclusion These results, based on the largest randomized trial ever conducted in the area of human lactation, provide strong evidence that prolonged and exclusive breastfeeding improves children's cognitive development. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008;65(5):578-584
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Breastfeeding has been named as one of the Ten Recommendations to Prevent Cancer by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) following analysis of a major new study. (November 2, 2007)
Impact of breastfeeding on cholesterol levels in adults Previous studies have indicated that breastfeeding may result in lower cholesterol concentrations in adults. This study aimed to elicit additional evidence to assess whether that argument was valid. The study consisted of a systematic review of published observational studies which compared initial feeding status and blood cholesterol concentrations in adults between those who were breastfed as babies and those who were artificially fed. 17 studies (17 498 subjects; 12 890 breastfed, 4608 formula-fed) were found and the data analysed. Results from these studies were pooled and adjusted for factors such as non-exclusive breastfeeding, age, socio-economic status, body mass index (BMI) and smoking. Mean total blood cholesterol was lower among those ever breastfed than among those fed formula milk (mean difference: -0.04 mmol/L). However, exclusive breastfeeding made a greater and more consistent impact (mean difference: -0.15 mmol/L). The authors conclude that breastfeeding, particularly when exclusive, may be associated with lower blood cholesterol concentrations in later life.
USPSTF Recommends Primary Care Interventions to Promote Breast-Feeding
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends primary care interventions during pregnancy and after childbirth to encourage and support breast-feeding (grade B recommendation).
In Annals of Internal Medicine, the task force cites evidence that breast-feeding is associated with lower risks for: breast and ovarian cancers in mothers; ear, respiratory, and gastrointestinal infections in infants; asthma, type 2 diabetes, and obesity in young children.
Strategies that may increase breast-feeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity include: formal breast-feeding education of mothers, partners, family members, and friends; direct support of women during breast-feeding, such as consultation with lactation specialists and peer counseling; training of primary care staff in techniques to offer support.
The USPSTF notes that in certain populations, breast-feeding is not recommended — for example, among women with HIV.
FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH).
This website is the product of an effort that was initiated with the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee.
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May 30, 2008 - USA Today reports that the FDA is calling for new labels on prescription drugs prescribed to women that would include the possible health risks for pregnant and breastfeeding women taking the drug. Labels will be updated to provide information on the risks during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as well as the risks offailing to treat medical conditions. The FDA is accepting comments on this proposal.
Nursing mothers should exercise their right to breast-feed in public without interference.....It's up to breast-feeding advocacy groups to continue to educate the public about breast-feeding's benefits — and paint over a misguided puritanical streak regarding an act that's perfectly natural.
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"Flashpoint" Channel 6 WKMG - Tackles Topic of Breastfeeding In Public Lauren Rowe, WKMG Orlando, FL reporter, talks with experts about mothers breastfeeding their children in public places and in breastfeeding mothers in the workplace.
Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin released The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding in the Jack Morton Auditorium at The George Washington University. http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/
The Surgeon General's CAT is aimed at better supporting mothers who choose to breastfeed by education and by removing the barriers that hamper successful breastfeeding in our society.
Urgent Call for Human Milk Donations for Haiti Infants
Washington, DC--The Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA), United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), International Lactation Consultant Association/United States Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA/USLCA), and La Leche League International (LLLI) are jointly issuing an urgent call for human milk donations for premature infants in Haiti, as well as sick and premature infants in the United States.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recently endorsed the WHO/UNICEF 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, a significant step forward in the promotion and support of breastfeeding. The AAP has integrated the 10 Steps into its breastfeeding residency curriculum and sample hospital breastfeeding policy for newborns. This endorsement moves the 10 Steps into a category of a community standard, providing the impetus for all birthing hospitals to embrace the 10 Steps as their model for lactation care and services.
Letter from AAP Endores 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding
In late 2007, The Joint Commission's Board of Commissioners recommended retiring and replacing the Pregnancy and Related Conditions (PR) measure set with an expanded set of evidenced-based measures. A technical advisory panel (TAP) comprising experts in the perinatal care field was convened in February 2009 to select the replacement set of measures from among those endorsed for national use by the National Quality Forum. This expanded measure set, now referred to as Perinatal Care (PC) comprises the following measures.
Elective deliveries
Cesarean sections
Antenatal steroids
Health care-associated bloodstream infections in newborns
Exclusive breast milk feeding
Refinement of measure specifications has begun and will continue through most of 2009. It is anticipated the PC measure set will be available for implementation by Joint Commission listed vendors by October 1, 2009 to support hospitals' data collection beginning with April 1, 2010 discharges.
Washington, DC--As the nation monitors the intensifying "swine flu" outbreak, the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC) recommends breastfeeding as a critical strategy to prevent infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued updated guidance today on H1N1 (swine) flu considerations for pregnancy and breastfeeding, stating that: "Infants who are not breastfeeding are particularly vulnerable to infection and hospitalization for severe respiratory illness. Women who deliver should be encouraged to initiate breastfeeding early and feed frequently."
Pregnant and breastfeeding Moms with H1N1 flu symptoms should be treated ASAP (within 48 hrs of onset) with oseltamivir (1st choice) or zanamivir (2nd choice), but not the adamantanes (amantidine and rimantidine). Pregnant women experience no greater incidence of spontaneous abortion or malformation after exposure to these medications than in the general population. Breastfeeding is not expected to transfer a large amount of medication to the baby, therefore, in breast-feeding women who need treatment of novel influenza H1N1, oseltamivir and zanamivir are compatible.
National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), issued a report on Births: Final Data for 2006 compiled from information on birth certificates from that year. Florida Birth Facts: number 4 in births in the US; 36.1% cesarean rate; 7.2% have late or no prenatal care; VABC rate is 5.4%; 13.8% prematurity rate; 8.7% low birthweight.
NATIONAL CONSENSUS STANDARDS FOR PERINATAL CARE recommends exclusive breastfeeding from birth "Livebirths not discharged from the NICU who were fed by “breast only” since birth."
PUBLIC HEALTH & EDUCATION | CDC Report Finds Hospitals Do Not Do Enough To Promote Breastfeeding[June 13, 2008]
CDC on Thursday released its first-ever survey of breastfeeding practices at hospitals and birthing centers nationwide, which found that practices "unfriendly" to breastfeeding were common throughout the country, the AP/Google.com reports (Stobbe, AP/Google.com, 6/12). According to CQ HealthBeat, CDC endorses breastfeeding as a practice that provides optimal nutrition for infants and reduces the risk for infant and maternal morbidity and mortality. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5723a1.htm
Negative Impact of Formula Discharge Packs on BreastfeedingResearch Update Hospital practices influence breastfeeding duration. Formula discharge packs given to mothers as they leave the hospital reduce exclusive breastfeeding at 10 weeks.
