Formula, or milk?
Reported November 24, 2007
Hospitals in San Bernardino County fall below the state average in terms of in-hospital breast-feeding rates, according a study recently released by the UC Davis Human Lactation Center.
This is significant because mothers who don’t breast-feed after giving birth at a hospital are unlikely to breast-feed once they check out. Children who aren’t breast-fed are at greater risk to childhood illnesses and become susceptible to obesity.
The study also was sponsored by the California Women, Infants and Children Association, or WIC.
WIC is a federal agency that provides grants to states to benefit low-income moms and their children.
According to the study, “A Fair Start for Better Health” – which looks at births from the 2006 calendar year – 42.8 percent of women in the state breast-fed exclusively during their hospital stay after childbirth.
In San Bernardino County, 34.6 percent of women breast-fed exclusively.
At 86.2 percent, Shasta County had the highest exclusive breast-feeding rate. Imperial County had the lowest at 8.4 percent.
Exclusive breast-feeding means a newborn receives no food or liquid other than breast milk.
The numbers are important because new evidence shows that mothers who breast-feed exclusively during their hospital stay continue to breast-feed exclusively once they’re out of the hospital.
Most major health organizations – including the World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics – recommend exclusive breast-feeding for the first six months of life.
“It’s natural, it’s healthier,” said Karen Farley, program manager for WIC. “Children who are breast-fed are at a lower risk for a variety of issues like childhood obesity, asthma, ear infections, upper respiratory infections and certain autoimmune diseases,” Farley said.
According to Farley, the nutrition in breast milk is something that is impossible to replicate in baby formula.
“They hope to make it like breast milk but it will never replicate it, it’s impossible,” Farley said. “Breast milk is like blood, it’s a living liquid.”
The study shows the breast-feeding gap is greatest in hospitals serving many ethnic, low-income mothers and babies.
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center – owned and operated by the county – was among the 15 lowest scoring hospitals in the state in exclusive breast-feeding at 8.5 percent in 2006.
In the county, the only hospital that scored lower than Arrowhead was Montclair Hospital Medical Center at 4.9 percent.
San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland had the highest score in the county at 62.8 percent.
“Our rates are good because we have really good support inside and outside of the hospital,” said Sandy Panas, nurse manager at San Antonio. “Our staff is trained in lactation education.”
Dr. Ruth Stanhiser, a faculty physician in family medicine at Arrowhead, said that 2006 was the first year the hospital instituted new “baby friendly” policies.
Those policies are part of the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organizations Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative – a list of policies and guidelines to educate new mothers on the benefits of breast-feeding. If hospitals follow the baby-friendly policies, UNICEF and WHO reward them with the distinction of being certified as a baby-friendly hospital.
Arrowhead hopes to be certified as a baby-friendly hospital by June, Stanhiser said.
This year, Arrowhead has done a better job at encouraging breast-feeding among new moms. The rates hover at 60 and 70 percent, Stanhiser said.
The sharp increase is a result of more employees being trained and becoming familiar with baby-friendly policies.
Before 2006, newborns at Arrowhead were whisked to the nursery immediately after birth.
Now newborns are immediately placed skin to skin on the mother’s chest. “Most babies will make their way to the breast on their own within the first hour after birth,” said Norma Jeanne Leite, a lactation educator at Arrowhead. “It’s a natural process.”
The initial contact between the mother and newborn helps the child begin the breast-feeding process and also gets the mother producing larger quantities of milk, Leite said.
Community Hospital of San Bernardino saw its exclusive breast-feeding rates climb from 19 percent in 2004 to 50.1 percent in 2006. The jump came after the hospital began implementing the baby-friendly guidelines.
“Everybody pulled together here, it was a hospital-wide effort,” said Tobey Robertson, spokeswoman for the hospital.
