Women At Calif. Hospitals ;With Mostly Low-Income Patients Less Likely To Breastfeed, Report Says

Main Category: Women's Health / Gynecology
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 05 Sep 2008 - 8:00 PST

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Women who give birth at hospitals in California that have mostly non-white, low-income patients are less likely to breastfeed than women who give birth at other hospitals around the state, according to a report that ranks the rates of breastfeeding mothers in California hospitals released by the University of California-Davis Human Lactation Center and the California WIC Association, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports (Dean, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/2). Studies have shown has shown that breastfeeding can reduce the likelihood of childhood obesity and ear infections and boosts children's immune systems (Reiter, Merced Sun-Star, 9/3).

Karen Farley, program manager of California WIC Association, said, "Our report shows that virtually all of the hospitals with the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates reported here serve low-income and minority women -- the very population most affected by poor health outcomes such as diabetes and obesity" (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/2). She added, "Breastfeeding should not depend on where you are born. We know that when babies are exclusively breastfed in the hospital, they are more likely to be breastfed exclusively at home. We know these babies have healthier outcomes" (Carlson, Modesto Bee, 9/3).

Eighty-seven percent of women statewide began breastfeeding while at the hospital, the report found (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/2). However, an average of 42.7% of women continued to exclusively breastfeed their infants after leaving the hospital, according to the report (Halstead, Marin Independent Journal, 9/2). The California Department of Public Health has guidelines to help hospitals promote breastfeeding and emphasizes exclusive breastfeeding in the hospital, which can influence whether the infant will be breastfed at home.

California hospitals with the highest rates of women who exclusively breastfed had trained staff, made lactation specialists available and supported exclusive breastfeeding, unless there was a medical reason not to. According to the Bee, the report's findings raise concerns that more targeted efforts are needed to address cultural gaps.

The report also found that California hospitals with the World Health Organization's "baby-friendly" designation reported higher rates of women who breastfeed exclusively after leaving the hospital (Modesto Bee, 9/3). The program involves 10 steps to help improve breastfeeding rates and lower infant mortality rates and can include classes, lactation counseling and other services to assist women after giving birth (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 9/2). The 19 baby-friendly hospitals in California "debunked assumptions about cultural influences on breastfeeding behavior," the Bee reports. At these hospitals, 71% of white women, 66% of Hispanic women and 62% of black women breastfed.

Lisa Keckler, head of a breastfeeding quality improvement task force at Doctors Medical Center of Modesto, said that some of the breastfeeding rates could be explained by some premature infants having to spend time in intensive care. In addition, some women might have to return to work soon after giving birth and supplement breastfeeding with formula, she added (Modesto Bee, 9/3).

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