National Breastfeeding Awareness Month

Breastfeeding is one of the most effective steps a mother can take to protect the health of her baby. All major medical authorities recommend that mothers breastfeed exclusively for six months. In 2013, 87 percent of Maine infants were ever breastfed, similar to the national average. More Maine infants were exclusively breastfed for six months, 32 percent, than compared to the U.S., 22 percent.

Maine’s efforts to protect, promote and support breastfeeding include:

• 6 for ME, a healthcare quality improvement initiative focused on breastfeeding  best practices
• Women Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC): Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Program and Breast Pump Loaner Program
• An active Maine State Breastfeeding Coalition
• Collaborating with businesses and communities to implement Maine’s Nursing Mothers in the Workplace and Right to Breastfeed laws 

Breastfeeding support improves in Maine hospitals

Hospital support for breastfeeding has improved since 2007, according to the latest U.S. CDC Vital Signs report released early October. The percentage of U.S. hospitals using a majority of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, the global standard for hospital care to support breastfeeding, increased from approximately 29 percent in 2007 to 54 percent in 2013, a nearly two-fold increase over six years. Hospitals in Maine that have implemented the majority of the Ten Steps increased from 72 percent in 2007 to 83 percent in 2013. 

Improved hospital care could increase rates of breastfeeding both in Maine and nationally, contributing to healthier children. According to U.S. CDC’s 2014 Breastfeeding Report Card, approximately 28 percent of babies in Maine were born in baby-friendly hospitals, a rate topped only by New Hampshire and Connecticut.  The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) was established by the World Health Organization and UNICEF and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The core of the BFHI is the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, which include:

• Educating all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
• Helping mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
• Keeping mothers and babies together throughout the entire hospital stay.
• Providing mothers with information about breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to these groups upon discharge from the hospital.

Maine has implemented “6 for ME,” a health care and quality improvement initiative focused on providing assistance and support to health care professionals, focusing on six of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding.  Maine CDC, Let's Go!, MaineHealth and the Maine State Breastfeeding Coalition all link resources to offer technical assistance and educational opportunities to health care professionals caring for mothers and babies.

For more information about U.S. CDC’s work to improve hospital practices to support breastfeeding, visit www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding or Maine’s 6 for ME: Maine takes 6 steps to improve breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding

Research shows that for every month a baby is breastfed there is a 4 percent lifetime risk reduction for obesity. Breastfed babies also have a lower risk of chronic disease, specifically Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and asthma over their lifespan. The Maine CDC maternal and child health and chronic disease programs are working together to prevent obesity and the subsequent health complications by increasing breastfeeding rates in Maine. 

6 for ME is an educational quality improvement initiative focused on supporting Maine birth hospitals to adopt at least six of the “Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding”. The Ten Steps are internationally recognized breastfeeding best practices that improve breastfeeding outcomes.  To learn more about the 10 steps, visit http://www.tensteps.org/

The intent is that mothers and babies in Maine will have experienced at least six of the ten breastfeeding best practices by 2018. The goal is that breastfeeding outcomes, duration and exclusivity rates will improve for Maine mothers and babies moving Maine breastfeeding rates closer to the Healthy People 2020 objectives for breastfeeding.

Maine birth hospitals are encouraged to attend the 6 for ME Breastfeeding Learning Collaborative training on March 27, 2015, at Eastern Maine Health System, Professional Center, Cianchette Building in Brewer.

For the agenda and to register, go to: http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/population-health/hmp/panp/breastfeeding.html 

Breastfeeding

August is National Breastfeeding Month. Breastfeeding is one of the most effective steps a mother can take to protect the health of her baby. 

US CDC's 2014 Breastfeeding Report Card, which provides state and national data on breastfeeding rates as well as information on supports for breastfeeding, is now available at http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/reportcard.htm

All of Maine's breastfeeding rates increased in the 2014 report compared to the 2013 report.

For more information on breastfeeding and its health benefits, visit http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/index.htm 

Breastfeeding and obesity

Childhood obesity is an epidemic. In the US, 1 preschooler in 5 is at least overweight, and half of these are obese. Breastfeeding helps protect against childhood obesity. A baby's risk of becoming an overweight child goes down with each month of breastfeeding. In the US, most babies start breastfeeding, but within the first week, half have already been given formula, and by 9 months, only 31% of babies are breastfeeding at all. Hospitals can either help or hinder mothers and babies as they begin to breastfeed.

This month’s Vital Signs feature and related MMWR from US CDC focus on hospital support for breastfeeding.

US CDC’s Breastfeeding Report Card shows that Maine ranked third in the nation for percent of live births occurring at baby-friendly facilities and tied for third in the nation for State Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care scores from birthing facilities.