Pediatricians Are Perfectly Positioned to Help Mothers Reach Their Breastfeeding Goals.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: AAP — : American Academy of Pediatrics More and more women are breastfeeding in the United States; >83% of infants born in 2016 initiated breastfeeding, exceeding the Healthy People 2020 goal of 81.9%. Unfortunately, only 25% were still exclusively breastfeeding through 6 months,1 falling short of American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations that mothers should exclusively breastfeed their infants for the first 6 months of life and then continue breastfeeding for at least the first year of life with the addition of complementary foods.2 Moreover, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Infant Feeding Practices Study II indicate that 60% of US women are not reaching their own breastfeeding goals.3 In this issue of Pediatrics , Eilers et al4 describe similar findings of high breastfeeding initiation in Texas but with short duration, especially among Mexican-origin women born in the United States. This observation coincides with disparities in breastfeeding that are especially pronounced among African American mothers, with both decreased initiation compared with other groups as well as a rapid drop off in both duration and exclusivity.5 Importantly, the authors found that in all subpopulations, formula supplementation within the first week was a strong predictor of cessation of breastfeeding,4 a finding that is … Address correspondence to Julie Ware, MD, MPH, IBCLC, FAAP, FABM, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45229. E-mail: julie.ware{at}cchmc.org