Breastfeeding-Related Maternity Practices at Hospitals and Birth Centers—United States, 2007

Maternity practices in hospitals and birth centers throughout the intrapartum period, such as ensuring mother-newborn skin-to-skin contact, keeping mother and newborn together, and not giving supplemental feedings to breastfed newborns unless medically indicated, can influence breastfeeding behaviors during a period critical to successful establishment of lactation. In 2007, to characterize maternity practices related to breastfeeding, CDC conducted the first national Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) Survey. Here, DiGirolamo et al summarize the results of mPINC survey, which indicated that a substantial proportion of facilities used maternity practices that are not evidence-based and are known to interfere with breastfeeding and states in the southern United States generally had lower mPINC scores, including certain states previously determined to have the lowest 6-month breastfeeding rates. A CDC editorial note is included.