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A network of Notre Dame moms, dedicated to supporting each other through the trials and tribulations of breastfeeding. Feel free to reach out to any of the BEST "Go-To" People with any questions or concerns you may have.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Not so helpful hospitals

The CDC recently came out with a report that shows that hospitals are not doing all that well with breastfeeding-friendly practices.

The findings indicate substantial prevalences of maternity practices that are not evidence-based and are known to interfere with breastfeeding - CDC
Among their findings:
  • Nearly one-quarter (24%) of birth facilities reported supplementing the majority of healthy, full-term, breastfed newborns with “something other than breast milk…a practice shown to be unnecessary and detrimental to breastfeeding."
  • 65% told mothers to limit the duration of suckling
  • 45% gave pacifiers to the majority of infants
  • 70% gave breastfeeding moms “gift bags” with formula samples

The lowest scoring areas for Indiana were the categories "Breastfeeding support after discharge", and "Nurse/breastfeeding attendant training and education".

Here's the link to the complete CDC report.