Posted on June 16, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that hospitals in the United States fail to adequately promote breast-feeding. The
Associated Press is on it:
About a quarter of hospitals reported giving formula or some other supplement to more than half of their healthy, full-term newborns. The practice was common even when mothers were able and willing to breast-feed, Dee said.
Of hospitals who gave supplements, 30 percent gave sugar water and 15 percent gave water.
Experts say there are no good nutritional reasons to use those, but it is commonly done to quiet crying babies separated from their mother. Sometimes it's done to test a baby's ability to feed - even though such a test is usually not necessary, Dee said.
Breast-feeding is considered beneficial to both mothers and their babies. Breast milk contains antibodies that can protect newborns from infections, and studies have found breast-fed babies are less likely to become overweight that those fed with formula.
For more breast-feeding news, check out
DiseaseProof’s healthy parenting category.
