New data from the CDC shows that breastfeeding initiation rates hit a 20 year high of 77% in 2006. And there were especially big gains for African American women. The Associated Press reports:
About 77 percent of new mothers breast-feed, at least briefly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
"It looks like it is an all-time high" based on CDC surveys since the mid-1980s, said Jeff Lancashire, a CDC spokesman...
The percentage of black infants who were ever breast-fed rose most dramatically, to 65 percent. Only 36 percent were ever breast-fed in 1993-1994, the new study found.
For whites, the figure rose to 79 percent, from 62 percent. For Mexican-Americans, it increased to 80 percent, from 67 percent...
The latest CDC report found rates of breast-feeding were also lowest among women who are unmarried, poor, rural, younger than 20, and have a high school education or less.
I should note here that these statistics show an increase in the number of women who initiate breastfeeding. Sustaining breastfeeding, especially exclusive breastfeeding, is a different story. But any upward trend is something to celebrate, right?
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