Post by Michele Zipp
The CDC is reporting that more moms are breastfeeding -- the stat increased by over four points from 2000 to 2008. Moms who at least tried to nurse in 2008 "increased among blacks to 58.9 percent and among whites to 75.2 percent". Hispanics stayed steady at 80 percent. That number seems encouraging, but by the time babies get to be 6-months-old, overall less than 45 percent of mothers are still breastfeeding. I do believe the campaigns in recent years will help those numbers go up but the "longer term" breastfeeding rates are still going to show a significant number of mothers not breastfeeding much past those early weeks. And that's because of the major challenges most working mothers face when it comes to pumping. This isn't about mothers failing at breastfeeding. This is about our country failing mothers when it comes to maternity leave.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
The CDC is reporting that more moms are breastfeeding -- the stat increased by over four points from 2000 to 2008. Moms who at least tried to nurse in 2008 "increased among blacks to 58.9 percent and among whites to 75.2 percent". Hispanics stayed steady at 80 percent. That number seems encouraging, but by the time babies get to be 6-months-old, overall less than 45 percent of mothers are still breastfeeding. I do believe the campaigns in recent years will help those numbers go up but the "longer term" breastfeeding rates are still going to show a significant number of mothers not breastfeeding much past those early weeks. And that's because of the major challenges most working mothers face when it comes to pumping. This isn't about mothers failing at breastfeeding. This is about our country failing mothers when it comes to maternity leave.Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
