About Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding benefits babies and mothers

Infants who are breastfed have reduced risk of:

• Asthma.
• Severe lower respiratory disease.
• Obesity.
• Type 1 diabetes.
• Childhood leukemia.
• Acute otitis media (ear infections).
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
• Gastrointestinal infections, which can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
• Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) (death of intestinal tissue) for preterm infants.

Breastfeeding can help lower a mother's risk for:

• High blood pressure.
• Type 2 diabetes.
• Ovarian cancer.
• Breast cancer.

Breastfeeding statistics

• About 1 in 3 infants (30%) is exclusively breastfed as recommended by the time they are 6 months old.
• Low rates of breastfeeding add more than $3 billion a year to U.S. medical costs for the mother and child.
• A little more than three-quarters (79%) of Black infants are ever breastfed, which is below the national average of 86%.

Milestones

In the United States:

• The percentage of babies who start out breastfeeding increased from 70% in 2004 to 86% in 2023.
• CDC’s mPINC data show that nationally, the percentage of hospitals implementing more than half of the recommended maternity care practices supportive of breastfeeding has increased from 44% in 2018 to 53% in 2024. These practices are consistent with the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.

What CDC is doing

We work with state and local organizations to improve continuity of care in breastfeeding. Quality, consistent care over time includes hospital initiatives, worksite accommodation, and community support initiatives. We also collect data to track progress.

We promote best practices in health care settings by:

• Supporting the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, a global standard to promote breastfeeding in hospitals.
• Encouraging obstetricians, pediatricians, and nurses to educate new mothers about breastfeeding.

We support mothers at work and in their communities by:

• Partnering with states to help employers support breastfeeding mothers with:
  • Places to pump and store breast milk.
  • Flexible work hours.
  • Maternity leave benefits.
• Promoting access to community supports such as peer counseling and supplemental nutrition programs.
• Supporting policies and practices in early care and education settings to make it easier for mothers to continue to breastfeed their children.

We collect data to learn how best to improve breastfeeding rates in the United States by:

• Tracking how long infants are breastfed.
• Creating reports that show how well states and hospitals support breastfeeding mothers.

Resources

Potential activities for state and local organizations

Recommendations

The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding