News article

CDC releases comprehensive hospital survey around breastfeeding

June 13, 2008

In a survey whose responses included almost 2,700 maternity hospitals and birth centers in the US, the CDC found that most hospitals fell short of implementing evidence-based practices around breastfeeding.

Recognizing the mounting evidence that the first few days in the hospital after birth can make a substantial difference in the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sent the survey to every maternity hospital and birth center in the US, over 80% of which responded.

Each facility received a score from 0-100, with 100 being the most favorable to breastfeeding. Scores ranged from 48 (Arkansas) to 81 (Vermont and New Hampshire), with the average score being 63. Massachusetts ranked fifth at 75. The survey identified that there were big problems with inappropriate supplementation of breastfed infants, and failure to give adequate support after discharge. The report was summarized on the front page of this week’s MMWR, a weekly CDC publication.

“If these were grades in school, average grade was a D, and Massachusetts got a C,” said Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC, a board member of the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition, and president of the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy. “If even the best grade is a B minus, clearly we have a long way to go.”

The report of this survey, known as “mPINC” (Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care), comes at time when momentum is growing to create more incentives for hospitals to implement evidence-based practices around breastfeeding. The National Quality Forum recently proposed public reporting of hospitals’ exclusive breastfeeding rates as one of 15 measures of perinatal quality.)

Massachusetts has also been leading a call for insurers to give monetary bonuses for hospitals who adopt the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, a package of ten evidence-based practices from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, which formed the basis of the mPINC survey. Currently, less than 3% of US hospitals are Baby-Friendly. “The only motivation hospitals have to go Baby-Friendly is to do the right thing for public health; clearly that is not enough of an incentive right now,” said Melissa Bartick, MD, chair of the Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition. To read more about the proposal see Bartick’s recent blog in the Huffington Post. To raise awareness of the need for the Baby-Friendly ten steps, Massachusetts Breastfeeding Coalition is sponsoring a walk on August 9, 2008, with the theme “Baby-Friendly or Bust!” Learn more at the walk’s website.