![]() |
|
|
Department of Pediatrics, Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, AZ 85724 and * Section of Neonatology and Childrens Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030
3To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: schanler{at}bcm.tmc.edu.
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Recent breastfeeding rates |
|---|
|
|
|---|
By 1975, however, breastfeeding initiation began to increase, from
33.4% in that year to 54% in 1980, and subsequently to 59.7% in 1984
(Martinez and Krieger 1985
). There was a dip in
breastfeeding initiation rates in the late 1980s, followed by a return
in the mid-1990s to the high levels observed in the early 1980s
(Ryan 1997
). Thus, after a dramatic increase in the
1970s, breastfeeding rates remained relatively static from the early
1980s to 1995. As of 1995, 60% of new mothers initiated breastfeeding,
with 20% still breast-feeding at 6 mo (Ryan 1997
).
Unpublished data indicated that in 1997, 62.4% of mothers initiated
breastfeeding, and 26% continued to 6 mo; newly reported was a 14.5%
breastfeeding rate at 12 mo (personal communication, Ross Mothers
Survey).
| Correlates of the changes in breastfeeding rates |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
The increase in breastfeeding in the 1970s occurred largely among
well-educated Caucasian women. However, because birth rates were
lower in Caucasian women than in African-Americans in the latter
half of the 20th century, the national increase cannot be attributed to
an increased birth rate among well-educated women (Eckhardt and Hendershot 1984
, U.S. Census Bureau 1999
).
In contrast, the recent increase has been greatest among
African-Americans and women using the WIC program. Because the
birth rate in the 1980s to 1990 was higher in these groups, national
demographic trends may account for some of the increase in
breastfeeding initiation in the last three decades (U.S. Census Bureau 1999
).
| Maternal employment and breastfeeding practices |
|---|
|
|
|---|
In fact, the recent increase in breastfeeding initiation coincides with
a dramatic increase in the percentage of married women in the work
force with a child <1 y of age (from 29.2% in 1975 to 58.8% in 1994 for Caucasian women) (U.S. Department of Labor 1995
).
Thus, although employment may have been a barrier to breastfeeding
initiation in earlier decades, it no longer affects breastfeeding
initiation, suggesting that other changes may have affected feeding
practices among employed women.
| Changes in birthing practices |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Certain practices, reminiscent of those later recommended by the Baby
Friendly Hospital Initiative, had particular relevance to breastfeeding
(Kyenkya-Isabirye 1992
). For example, pain and fear were
to be reduced through psychological rather than medical means. Thus,
the "twilight sleep" of scopolamine and morphine gave way to
unmedicated delivery, or birth with nonsystemic anesthesia, such as an
epidural, which allowed the mother to be sufficiently alert to hold,
breastfeed and bond with her infant (Pitcock and Clark 1992
). Strict schedules, which regulated feeding intervals and
duration of nursing, were increasingly replaced in the late 1960s by
more infant-directed nursing (Millard 1990
).
Maternal infant contact, including rooming-in, was encouraged, and
organizations such as La Leche League emerged to help support the
breastfeeding mother. Finally, skin-to-skin contact and immediate
breast-feeding, often before the umbilical cord was cut, were
encouraged (OConnor 1993
).
Several analyses suggest that some of the early resurgence in
breastfeeding was linked to the adoption of these practices. The
prepared childbirth movement typically involved middle-class,
well-educated, Caucasian women, the same group of women among whom the
earliest increases in breastfeeding rates occurred (OConnor 1993
). The proportion of women attending a birth preparation
class and being given information about breastfeeding by medical
personnel increased significantly between the 1960s and 1970s, whereas
the proportion of women first holding their infant >6 h after birth
("delayed contact") and receiving anesthesia during delivery
declined significantly (Starbird 1991
). Virtually all of
these variables were significantly associated with breastfeeding
initiation in the expected direction, and the effect of each variable
increased in the later years of the study. These data suggest that
increased societal interest in more natural childbirth, including
childbirth education classes and early maternal-child contact, may
be responsible for much of the upward pressure on breastfeeding rates
in the 1970s.
| Increased knowledge of the benefits of breastfeeding by health professionals |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
Thus, taking all these events into consideration, in the last decade a
consensus has emerged among health professionals that exclusive
breastfeeding for
6 mo should be universally recommended as the best
strategy for infant nutrition and health (American Academy of
Pediatrics and Work Group on Breastfeeding 1997
).
| Successful breastfeeding interventions |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The demographics of the population showing the greatest decline in
breastfeeding rates were similar to the population served by the WIC
program. The magnitude of the numbers of children involved is enormous.
In 1989, WIC enrolled 1,256,000 children, 31% of the U.S. infant
population, of whom 70% were <3 mo of age. In 1995, the WIC
enrollment reached 1,819,000 children, 47% of the U.S. infant
population, 85% of whom were <3 mo old (Ryan 1997
).
The WIC program provides food packages for low income women, as well as
an opportunity for breastfeeding education of new mothers. Because it
spans pregnancy and the postnatal period, the WIC program is in a good
position to offer counseling to women on breastfeeding because it
serves a population in which education and breastfeeding promotion are
most needed.
In part because it was criticized for the provision of free formula
(which implicitly discourages breastfeeding), programmatic changes
supportive of breastfeeding were made in the early 1990s (John 1993
). These changes included increasing the amount of food
provided to mothers who were breast-feeding exclusively (relative
to women who were breast- and bottle feeding), thereby providing a
modest incentive for exclusive breastfeeding. In addition, funds were
provided for breastfeeding promotion, which resulted in a range of
programs at individual WIC clinics, including education of staff,
breastfeeding education and discussion with the clients, and the use of
peer counselors (Caulfield et al. 1998
, Michaels 1993
, Schafer et al. 1998
, Schwartz et al. 1995
). It is possible that these efforts account for some
of the increase in breast-feeding among low income women and WIC
participants in the last two decades, and, given the large number of
women served by WIC, may have contributed to national increases in
breastfeeding initiation.
| Public measures that affected breastfeeding resurgence |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The 1989, a U.S. Surgeon Generals Workshop provided a reaffirmation
of the benefits of breastfeeding by bringing together experts in the
field of human milk and lactation. The Surgeon General at that time, C.
Everett Koop, M.D., encouraged women to breastfeed, stating that
"breastfeeding benefits society through stronger family bonds,
womens fulfillment of their aspirations for motherhood, and increased
self-esteem" (Obermeyer and Castle 1997
). This was
viewed in a positive way by international agencies because,
commensurate with increasing urban populations and related economic
pressures, traditional practices tend to be forsaken (Obermeyer and Castle 1997
).
Thus, in 1991, the recommendations of WHO and UNICEF representatives
culminated in the Innocenti Declaration on the Protection, Promotion,
and Support of Breast-feeding, which defined optimal infant feeding
as exclusive breastfeeding from birth through 46 mo, continued
breast-feeding into the second year, and the introduction of
appropriate weaning foods at 6 mo (Cadwell 1999
,
Obermeyer and Castle 1997
). This endorsement of
exclusive breastfeeding grew out of a large body of research
documenting the nutritional and immunologic properties of human milk,
the dangers of early supplementation, the protection afforded by
breastfeeding and the relationships between bottle feeding and infant
morbidity (Obermeyer and Castle 1997
).
To continue to increase breastfeeding rates, attention must be focused
on the employment status of women. The decision regarding when to
breastfeed may be hindered by the reality of the workplace. Assistance
to breastfeeding mothers has been negligible in the workplace, with the
possible exception of the 1993 enactment of the Family and Medical
Leave Act. This legislation provides the right to 12 wk of unpaid
leave, and job reinstatement for a range of medical and family
reasons. Unfortunately, many employees are not covered by the act
(including those in small workplaces, part-time workers and those
lacking a years service), and many women cannot afford unpaid leave.
Healthy People 2000 made numerous recommendations for enabling employed
women to breastfeed (including provision by employers of extended
maternity leave, part-time employment, facilities for pumping milk
or breastfeeding, and on-site child care) (U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services 1990
). However, existing data suggest that
adoption of these recommendations by individual employers has been
modest at best (Hamilton 1998
). Nevertheless, this type
of legislation holds the promise of assisting employed women to extend
the duration of breastfeeding.
There may be further improvement in breastfeeding rates because of the
increasing numbers of women entering the medical field. In a recent
survey of physicians, those who breastfed their own infants had a more
positive attitude toward breastfeeding (Schanler et al. 1999
). It can
be reasoned that as we train more female pediatric practitioners,
breastfeeding knowledge will be increased and breastfeeding rates will
rise. In 1995, 61% of pediatric residents were female, compared with
57% in 1991 and 30% in 1975 (American Board of Pediatrics:
www.abp.org/STATS/WRKFRC/Cpgms.htm).
| SUMMARY |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Although there has been an increase in breastfeeding compared
with earlier decades, it is important to recall the great
disparity between the recommended rates and those achieved by American
women (American Academy of Pediatrics Work Group on Breastfeeding 1997
). Thus, efforts to increase breastfeeding
initiation and duration should continue, particularly for the
groups of individuals who are at greatest risk of illness, such as
minority and low income infants. We suggest that the strategies likely
to have a lasting effect on future breastfeeding rates will be societal
pressures that affect existing breast-feeding barriers. Such
pressures may come from health maintenance organizations, insurance
companies and the federal government, which are likely to recognize
increasingly the institutional costs of failing to facilitate
breast-feeding (Ball and Wright 1999
). The provision
of flexible work hours and paid maternity leave, either by government
or "family-friendly" workplaces, could make a difference in the
ability of employed women to feed their infants optimally.
Thus, we have to agree with the comment that "while it is known
that breastfeeding is better, our society is not structured to
facilitate that choice" (Retsinas 1987
). Our efforts
to improve breastfeeding rates have to make visible the wider cultural
context in which infant feeding choices are made, and alter those
components that make it difficult for American women to feed their
infants optimally.
| FOOTNOTES |
|---|
2 Supported by the National Institute of Child
Health and Human Development, Grant No. RO-1-HD-28140 and the General
Clinical Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Childrens
Hospital Clinical Research Center, Grant No. MO-1-RR-00188, National
Institutes of Health. Partial funding also was provided from the
USDA/ARS under Cooperative Agreement No. 586250-6001. This work is
a publication of the USDA/ARS Childrens Nutrition Research Center,
Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas
Childrens Hospital, Houston, TX. The contents of this publication do
not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the USDA, nor does
mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply
endorsement by the U.S. Government. ![]()
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
1.
American Academy of Pediatrics Work Group on Breastfeeding Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics 1997;100:1035-1039
2.
Ball T. M., Wright A. L. Health care costs of formula-feeding in the first year of life. Pediatrics 1999;103:870-876
3. Cadwell K. Reaching the goals of "Healthy People 2000" regarding breastfeeding. Clin. Perinatol. 1999;26:527-537[Medline]
4.
Caulfield L. E., Gross S. M., Bentley M. E. WIC-based interventions to promote breastfeeding among African-American women in Baltimore: effects on breastfeeding initiation and continuation. J. Hum. Lact. 1998;14:15-22
5.
Dungy C. I., Christensen-Szalanski J., Losch M., Russell D. Effect of discharge samples on duration of breastfeeding. Pediatrics 1992;90:233-237
6. Eckhardt K. W., Hendershot G. E. Analysis of the reversal in breast feeding trends in the early 1970s. Public Health Rep 1984;99:410-415[Medline]
7. Freed G. L., Clark S. J., Sorenson J., Lohr J. A., Cefalo R., Curtis P. National assessment of physicians breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, training, and experience. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 1995;273:472-476[Abstract]
8. Hamilton J. Breastfeeding in the workplace. Report on the National Breastfeeeding Policy Conference 1998 UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities Breastfeeding Resource Program Los Angeles, CA.
9. Hirschman C., Butler M. Trends and differentials in breast feeding: an update. Demography 1981;18:39-54[Medline]
10. Howard C. R., Howard F. M., Weitzman M. Infant formula distribution and advertising in pregnancy: a hospital survey. Birth 1994;21:14-19[Medline]
11. John E. New WIC food package for women who are breastfeeding exclusively. J. Hum. Lact. 1993;9:217
12. Kyenkya-Isabirye M. UNICEF launches the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Am. J. Mat. Child. Nurs. 1992;17:177-179
13.
Lawrence R. A. Practices and attitudes toward breastfeeding among medical professionals. Pediatrics 1982;70:912-920
14.
Martinez G. A., Krieger F. W. 1984 Milk-feeding patterns in the United States. Pediatrics 1985;76:1004-1008
15. Michaels M. Breastfeeding promotion in the Utah WIC program. J. Hum. Lact. 1993;9:206-207
16. Millard A. V. The place of the clock in pediatric advice: rationales, cultural themes, and impediments to breastfeeding. Soc. Sci. Med. 1990;31:211-221
17. Naylor A. J., Creer A. E., Woodward-Lopez G., Dixon S. Lactation management education for physicians. Semin. Perinatol. 1994;18:525-531[Medline]
18. Obermeyer C. M., Castle S. Back to nature?. Historical and cross-cultural perspectives on barriers to optimal breastfeeding. Med. Anthropol. 1997;17:39-63
19. OConnor B. B. The home birth movement in the United States. J. Med. Philos. 1993;18:147-174[Medline]
20. Pitcock D.D.H., Clark R. B. From Fanny to Fernand: the development of consumerism in pain control during the birth process. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 1992;167:581-587[Medline]
21. Retsinas J. The breastfeeding decision. Sociol. Spectrum 1987;7:121-139
22.
Ryan A. S. The resurgence of breastfeeding in the United States. Pediatrics 1997;99:e12
23. Schafer E., Vogel M. K., Viegas S., Hausafus C. Volunteer peer counselors increase breastfeeding duration among rural low-income women. Birth 1998;25:101-106[Medline]
24.
Schanler R. J., OConnor K. G., Lawrence R. A. Pediatricans practices and attitudes regarding breastfeeding promotion. Pediatrics 1999;103:e35
25.
Schwartz J. B., Popkin B. M., Tognetti J., Zohoori N. Does WIC participation improve breastfeeding practices?. Am. J. Public Health 1995;85:729-731
26. Starbird E. H. Comparison of influences on breastfeeding initiation of firstborn children, 19601969 vs. 19701979. Soc. Sci. Med. 1991;33:627-634
27. U.S. Census Bureau Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1999 1999:78 Washington D.C.
28. U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service (1990) Healthy People 2000. National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives. Jones and Bartlett, Boston, MA.
29. U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (1995) Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1995. U:S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
30. Wright, A. L. (2001) The rise of breastfeeding in the United States. Pediatr. Clin. N. Am. (in press).
31.
Wright A. L., Holberg C., Taussig L. M. Infant feeding practices among middle-class Anglos and Hispanics. Pediatrics 1988;82:496-503
32.
Wright A. L., Rice S., Wells S. Changing hospital practices to increase the duration of breastfeeding. Pediatrics 1996;97:669-675
33.
Wright A. L., Wester R., Bauer M. Using cultural knowledge in health promotion: breastfeeding among the Navajo. Health Educ. Behav. 1997;24:625-639
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
S. Hatun, A. Bereket, B. Ozkan, T. Cothkun, R. Kose, and A. Suha Calykothlu Free vitamin D supplementation for every infant in Turkey Arch. Dis. Child., April 1, 2007; 92(4): 373 - 374. [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. K. Anderson, G. Damio, D. J. Chapman, and R. Perez-Escamilla Differential Response to an Exclusive Breastfeeding Peer Counseling Intervention: The Role of Ethnicity J Hum Lact, February 1, 2007; 23(1): 16 - 23. [Abstract] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Hatun, B. Ozkan, Z. Orbak, H. Doneray, F. Cizmecioglu, D. Toprak, and A. S. Calikoglu Vitamin D Deficiency in Early Infancy J. Nutr., February 1, 2005; 135(2): 279 - 282. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||