Abstract
Data comprising the first nation-wide survey of the incidence of breast feeding in hospitals in the United States are presented. More than two-thirds of all hospitals of 25 or more beds admitting women for delivery are included in the study. Coverage was equally good for all regions, for urban and rural communities, and for small, medium size, and large hospitals. For the United States as a whole, one-third of the infants were weaned at the time of discharge from the hospital and two-thirds were on breast or mixed feedings. A smaller percentage of breast feeding occurred in hospitals in or near metropolitan areas, as contrasted with areas removed from metropolitan centers. A lower percentage of breast feeding occurred in medium-sized hospitals as contrasted with small or large hospitals. There are striking regional differences, in the northeast the percent of infants on bottle feeding only—at time of discharge—being 61%, as contrasted with an incidence of 18%, in the southwest and southeast. Among infants discharged from hospital under eight days of age the incidence of breast feeding was higher than among those who remained longer.
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