Maternity Care Practices Survey
A new mother’s ability to successfully breastfeed her infant is
strongly affected by the practices and policies of the hospital in which
she delivers her baby. Earlier CDC research demonstrated that
women who experience optimal in-hospital breastfeeding practices are
eight times as likely to continue breastfeeding for at least six weeks
compared to women whose in-hospital experience was less favorable.1
Delaying breastfeeding beyond the first hour of birth, giving the baby
supplementary feedings in addition to breastfeeding, and feeding the
baby on a set schedule all appear to strongly interfere with the
successful initiation of breastfeeding.
In an effort to minimize the barriers to breastfeeding that women often
face within the health care system, CDC’s Division of Nutrition and
Physical Activity is developing a system to survey all labor and
delivery service facilities in an effort to monitor maternity care
practices associated with successful breastfeeding promotion and
support. The first survey is planned for 2007, followed by development
of an ongoing, systematic data collection system for the continued
assessment of nationwide breastfeeding-related maternity care practices
every other year.
1DeGirolamo AM, Grummer-Strawn LM, Fein S. Maternity Care Practices: Implications for Breastfeeding. Birth. 2001, 28:94–100.
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Page last updated: May 22, 2007
Content Source: Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion