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June 4th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda MONDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) — Although most American women
plan on breast-feeding their newborns, fewer than one-third of those who
expected to exclusively breast-feed for three months or more met that
goal, according to new research.
The biggest factor in whether or not a woman met her breast-feeding
goal appeared to be whether a baby received supplemental feedings while in
the hospital.
“We found that mothers able to exclusively breast-feed through their
hospital stay were more able to meet their breast-feeding intentions,”
said the study’s lead author, Cria Perrine, an epidemiologist in the
division of nutrition, physical activity and obesity at the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Results of the study were released online June 4 and are scheduled to
be published in the July issue of Pediatrics.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of
Pediatrics recommend that babies be breast-fed exclusively for the first
six months of their lives. Previous research has found that only 35
percent of American infants are breast-fed exclusively for three months,
and only 15 percent for the recommended six months, according to
background information in the study.
In an attempt to increase the number of U.S. babies being breast-fed,
UNICEF and WHO created a new program called the Baby-Friendly Hospital
Initiative. The initiative identifies 10 steps hospitals can take to help
encourage and support new mothers who are trying to breast-feed their
newborns. Some of the steps include:
- Let pregnant women know about the benefits of breast-feeding.
- Help new mothers begin breast-feeding within an hour after the birth.
- Teach mothers how to breast-feed and how to maintain their milk supply
if they are separated from their babies. - Don’t give infants any supplemental feedings (unless medically
necessary). - Allow mothers and infants to stay together 24 hours a day (referred to
as “rooming in”). - Encourage breast-feeding on demand.
To see whether or not a mother’s intention to breast-feed affected her
success, and if Baby-Friendly hospital practices played a role in
exclusive breast-feeding, the researchers reviewed data from the 2005 to
2007 Infant Feeding Practices Study II.
The investigators found 1,457 women who intended to breast-feed
exclusively. From this group, more than 85 percent said they planned on
breast-feeding exclusively for three months or more. Yet, only about 32
percent achieved this goal.
Women who were married, and women who had more than one child were more
likely to achieve their breast-feeding goals. Women who smoked or were
obese were less likely to achieve their breast-feeding goals. Women who
intended to breast-feed exclusively for longer durations were also less
likely to meet their goal, according to the study results.
Starting breast-feeding within an hour of birth, and not giving the
baby supplemental feedings or a pacifier were associated with meeting
breast-feeding goals. However, after the researchers adjusted the data to
account for all of the hospital’s practices, the only statistically
significant factor that led to success was not giving babies supplemental
feedings. Mothers of babies who weren’t given extra feedings were 2.3
times more likely to achieve their breast-feeding intentions, reported the
study authors.
“Breast-feeding needs to be established in the first few days, and if
you don’t get started then, you probably are not going to be able to stick
with it. Our study shows that we’re not supporting mothers as much as we
need to,” said Perrine, who added that each year, more and more hospitals
are becoming Baby-Friendly Hospitals.
“This study is very consistent with everything else that’s been said on
breast-feeding, and the Baby-Friendly practices really make a dramatic
difference in breast-feeding initiation and duration,” said Dr. Ruby Roy,
an assistant professor of pediatrics at LaRabida Children’s Hospital in
Chicago.
“Making what we think of as simple changes really can have a profound
impact on what moms are able to do,” she said. For example, not giving
supplemental feeding is a “big deal,” according to Roy. “The practice of
supplemental feedings usually means that mom and baby are separated for
long periods of time, and that’s not good for breast-feeding. It means
that someone might not be paying attention to when the baby wants to be
fed, and by the time baby gets to mom, the baby is so hungry that he or
she is wailing.” And, starting a breast-feeding session with a baby who’s
ravenous and crying isn’t the best situation for success.
Roy also said that many women don’t ask questions if breast-feeding
hurts. Instead, they may just stop. “Pain is not normal. It means
something is wrong. Get help. And, expect that breast-feeding is going to
take more time and energy than you expect,” advised Roy.
Once breast-feeding has been established, Roy said that many mothers
lose confidence in breast-feeding when their child is going through a
growth spurt. They think they’ve lost their milk supply when, in fact, the
baby has just drained the milk because he or she is feeding more to fuel
growth.
More information
Learn more about breast-feeding from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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