Report: Hospitals Flunk Breast-Feeding 101

CDC Says Hospitals Not Promoting Breast-Feeding In Favor Of Formula

(AP)  Most U.S. hospitals don't do very well when it comes to promoting breast-feeding, according to the first national report to look at the issue.

The average hospital scored 63 out of 100, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.

"There is a lot of room for improvement," said Deborah Dee, a CDC epidemiologist who co-authored the report.

About a quarter of hospitals reported giving formula or some other supplement to more than half of their healthy, full-term newborns. The practice was common even when mothers were able and willing to breast-feed, Dee said.

Of hospitals who gave supplements, 30 percent gave sugar water and 15 percent gave water.

Experts say there are no good nutritional reasons to use those, but it is commonly done to quiet crying babies separated from their mother. Sometimes it's done to test a baby's ability to feed - even though such a test is usually not necessary, Dee said.

Breast-feeding is considered beneficial to both mothers and their babies. Breast milk contains antibodies that can protect newborns from infections, and studies have found breast-fed babies are less likely to become overweight that those fed with formula.

But breast-feeding can be frustrating for new mothers because of nipple pain or the misperception that they're not producing enough milk. It's crucial that moms get proper breast-feeding advice and encouragement those first few days after birth, said Dr. Sheela Geraghty, a lactation expert at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

"It's wonderful that hospitals and birth centers are being examined because if moms aren't helped right there, where are they going to be helped?" Geraghty said.

The research was based on questionnaires filled out last year by about 2,700 U.S. maternity hospitals and birth centers. Hospitals were scored on supportive efforts, like offering breast-feeding tips and keeping the mother and the infant together. They also were evaluated on practices detrimental to breast-feeding, including supplemental feedings or including infant formula samples in gift packs for mothers.

Hospitals may regard the gift packs as benign, but the practice interferes with breast-feeding, said Laurence Grummer-Strawn, chief of the CDC's nutrition branch.

"They don't understand they're implicitly endorsing a product and they're giving an easy out for when parents are tired" to use the formula, he said.

States in New England and on the West Coast scored highest, and the South did the worst. Vermont and New Hampshire topped the list, tied with a score of 81. Arkansas had the poorest score, 48.

The highest score for a hospital or birth center was 98; the lowest was 12. The CDC did not release individual scores.

[miasmommy214]

These findings do NOT surprise me at all! Many hospitals are not breastfeeding friendly. The are full of doctors and nurses that know very little about breastfeeding.

I am from Texas. When had my daughter I told them from the beggining that I was planning to breastfeed. I even signed a paper that said so and said that the nurery did NOT have my permission to give bottles of glucos water or formula. Do to some complications I had during delivery I was not able to see my daughter for 3 hours after my delivery. When I finally did see her she was already in the sleepy perios that newborns go through. We have serious latching problems. I only had one helpful nurse and the rest were not helpful with breastfeeding at all. One nurse told me that if I didn''t get my baby latched within 10 minutes she was giving her formula! I ended up getting my baby latched but the nurse told me she was leaving the formula in the crib "just in case."

I found out on the day we went home that on my daughters first day of life she was given a bottle without my permission or knowledge. I also found out that the nurse who brought the formula to our room, changed my daughters chart to say that she was BOTH breastfed and formula fed. We do not know exactly how many bottles of garbage my daugther recieved while we were in the hospital but we do know that the hospital''s lack of support for breastfeeding only caused more breastfeeding trouble.

I am proud to say that my 15 month old is still breastfeeding!

[hillmom-2009]

I was lucky and gave birth in a breastfeeding friendly hospital, but I''ve heard many horror stories of hospitals and birthing centers sabotaging breastfeeding (telling mom she needs to supplement until her milk comes in, giving pacifiers, uneducated staff, etc.). Not to mention that fact that infant formula has a HUGE list of dangers(increased risk for SIDS, ear infections, lower respiratory infections, Asama, gastroenteritis, obesity, diabetes, allergies, etc.).

Why is it OK that out health care system is doing such a poor job starting children off right. The over use of infant formula is part of the health care crisis.... Now what are we going to do about it?

[oneworldusa]

This happened to me exactly. A nurse fed my newborn a bottle of formula without my knowledge OR permission when they took him away in the middle of the night for a hearing test. I only found out because he was supposed to be back in 1 hour, so I got some very much needed sleep. 3 hours later, he was not back. I went to check on him and saw those ''sample'' bottles by his bed, one of them empty. I was livid. I issued several complaints, but have no idea if the lady was appropriately reprimanded.

Furthermore, there was no misperception about not having enough milk, for me. Just wasn''t making enough. Baby lost weight and had to go on powder ultimately anyway.

A hospital should never, EVER give a baby whose mom is trying to feed them a bottle without their knowledge or permission.