Participation in a Quality Improvement Collaborative and Change in Maternity Care Practices.

Care immediately following birth affects breastfeeding outcomes. This analysis compared improvement in maternity care practices from 2011 to 2013 among hospitals participating in a quality improvement collaborative, Best Fed Beginnings (BFB), to hospitals that applied but were not selected (non-Best Fed Beginnings [non-BFB]), and other hospitals, using Centers of Disease Control and Prevention's Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) survey data to calculate total and subscores for 7 care domains. Analysis of covariance compared change in scores from 2011 to 2013 among BFB, non-BFB, and other hospitals.

Vital Signs: Improvements in Maternity Care Policies and Practices That Support Breastfeeding - United States, 2007-2013.

Background: Although 80% of U.S. mothers begin breastfeeding their infants, many do not continue breastfeeding as long as they would like to.

Using benchmarking techniques and the 2011 maternity practices infant nutrition and care (mPINC) survey to improve performance among peer groups across the United States.

Background: A substantial proportion of US maternity care facilities engage in practices that are not evidence-based and that interfere with breastfeeding. The CDC Survey of Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) showed significant variation in maternity practices among US states.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to use benchmarking techniques to identify states within relevant peer groups that were top performers on mPINC survey indicators related to breastfeeding support.

Maternity care practices that support breastfeeding: CDC efforts to encourage quality improvement.

Breastfeeding has important consequences for women's health, including lower risk of breast and ovarian cancers as well as type 2 diabetes. Although most pregnant women want to breastfeed, a majority encounter difficulties and are not able to breastfeed as long as they want. Routine maternity care practices can pose significant barriers to successful breastfeeding.

Progress in protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding: 1984-2009.

The 1984 Surgeon General's Workshop on Breastfeeding delineated six priority areas for action to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding. In this article, we examine trends in breastfeeding behaviors and recall key events and actions that shaped these behaviors over the past 25 years. We examine progress in breastfeeding support through workplaces, public education, professional education, health system changes, support services, and research.

Closing the quality gap: promoting evidence-based breastfeeding care in the hospital.

Evidence shows that hospital-based practices affect breastfeeding duration and exclusivity throughout the first year of life. However, a 2007 CDC survey of US maternity facilities documented poor adherence with evidence-based practice. Of a possible score of 100 points, the average hospital scored only 63 with great regional disparities.

Infant formula-handling education and safety.

Objectives: Our goal was to assess the extent to which mothers learn about proper handling of infant formula from health professionals and package labels; mothers' beliefs about the likelihood of germs being in infant formula and the importance of following safe-use directions; whether they take measures while handling infant formula to prevent foodborne illnesses and injury to their infants; and maternal characteristics associated with unsafe infant formula-handling practices.

Participants And Methods: The study cohort consisted of mothers participating in the 2005-2007 Infant Feeding Practices Study II who fed their infant formula. We conducted frequency and multiple logistic regression analyses.

Prevalence of breast milk expression and associated factors.

Objectives: Our goal was to describe the prevalence of any, occasional, and regular breast milk expression, mothers' reasons for expressing their milk, and sociodemographic factors associated with breast milk expression.

Participants And Methods: Breastfeeding mothers participating in the 2005-2007 Infant Feeding Practices Study II formed the cohort for these analyses, which were conducted among those with infants in 3 age groups: 1.5 to 4.

Characteristics of breastfeeding practices among US mothers.

Objectives: Although much has been published about breastfeeding rates, little is known about how breastfeeding is practiced in the United States. We describe the distributions and characteristics of practices related to common advice about breastfeeding during the infant's first year of life.

Participants And Methods: Participants in the 2005-2007 Infant Feeding Practices Study II received monthly questionnaires during their infants' first year of life.

Infant Feeding Practices Study II: study methods.

Objective: Our goal is to describe the methods used in the Infant Feeding Practices Study II (IFPS II), a study of infant feeding and care practices throughout the first year of life. Survey topics included breastfeeding, formula and complementary feeding, infant health, breast-pump use, food allergies, sleeping arrangements, mother's employment, and child care arrangements. In addition, mothers' dietary intake was measured prenatally and postnatally.

Health concerns of women and infants in times of natural disasters: lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina.

Pregnant women and infants have unique health concerns in the aftermath of a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina. Although exact numbers are lacking, we estimate that approximately 56,000 pregnant women and 75,000 infants were directly affected by the hurricane. Disruptions in the supply of clean water for drinking and bathing, inadequate access to safe food, exposure to environmental toxins, interruption of health care, crowded conditions in shelters, and disruption of public health and clinical care infrastructure posed threats to these vulnerable populations.