Breastfeeding Rates are on the Rise

One of the many goals of Healthy People 2000, a national prevention initiative to improve the health of all Americans, is to increase breastfeeding rates.

The first set of national health initiatives was published in 1979. It was a set of challenging goals with 1990 targets that drove action. Healthy People 2000, which was released in 1990, is a comprehensive agenda organized into 20 priority areas with 319 supporting objectives (one of which is to increase breastfeeding).

In 1995, a midcourse report on the status of Healthy People 2000's objectives was conducted. More recent progress reports have been completed in the last year. Following are excerpts from the 1995 midcourse report and a follow-up report done in May 1999. The reports show that early postpartum breastfeeding rates are increasing at a steady pace. However, the number of women who are still breastfeeding after five or six months postpartum is still low.

"Another objective moving in the right direction is the percent of women who breastfed their infants during the early postpartum period. While 56 percent of all women were breastfeeding in 1993, a 2 percent gain from the baseline established in 1988, there has been more progress among racial and ethnic minorities.

Among Black mothers, 31 percent were breastfeeding in the early postpartum period; among Hispanic mothers, 56 percent were breastfeeding; and among American Indian/Alaska Native mothers, 51 percent.

The gains among these women are beginning to narrow the gap with the total population. There has been little progress among women breastfeeding five to six months postpartum."

Source: The 1995 midcourse report on the status of the Maternal and Infant Health Objective.

"The proportion of all mothers who breastfed their infants in the early postpartum period increased from 52 percent in 1990 to 62 percent in 1997.

For select populations, the rate of early breastfeeding increased over the same period as follows: for Black mothers, from 23 percent to 41 percent; for Hispanic mothers, from 48 percent to 64 percent; for American Indian/Alaska Native mothers, 47 percent to 56 percent. The early breastfeeding rate for low-income mothers increased from 35 percent in 1990 to 42 percent in 1996. The year 2000 target is 75 percent.

The proportion of all mothers whose infants are still breastfed at age six months increased from 18 percent in 1990 to 26 percent in 1997. Among some select populations, the breastfeeding rate at six months increased from 1990 to1997 as follows: for Black mothers, from 6 to 15 percent; for Hispanic mothers, from 13 to 25 percent. The breastfeeding rate at six months increased as well for mothers with low income, from 8 percent in 1990 to 12 percent in 1996. For American Indian/Alaska Native mothers, the rate decreased from 27 percent in 1990 to 25 percent in 1997. The target for breastfeeding at age six months is 50 percent."

Source: May 1999 progress review for the Maternal and Infant Health Objective.