Only a Third of Moms Reach their Breastfeeding Goals — How to Boost Your Odds
Photo: Veer / The Bump
A recent study suggests that most new moms (a vast majority, actually) aren’t breastfeeding for as long as they intend to and that hospitals may be able to help others reach their goals.
For the study, published in Pediatrics, researchers questioned women before birth and throughout their babies’ first year. Of the women who planned to exclusively breastfeed, more than 85 percent wanted to do it for three months or more. But when they polled the moms afterwards, only 32.4 percent of them had reached their goal duration for breastfeeding.
Researchers examined how hospital practices influenced how long the women breastfed. Breastfeeding-friendly practices they took into account were the opportunity to breastfeed within one hour of birth, giving baby only breast milk, rooming in, breastfeeding on demand, not giving pacifiers and receiving information on breastfeeding support. Beginning breastfeeding within one hour of birth and not being given supplemental feedings or pacifiers were all associated with achieving exclusive breastfeeding goals. But after adjusting the data to account for all other hospital practices, researchers concluded that the only practice significantly associated with longer breastfeeding during was not receiving supplemental feedings. In other words, if you want to breastfeed exclusively, you may be more likely to succeed if you tell the nurses not to give your baby formula.
Also interesting to note is that mothers who were obese, smoked or intended to breastfeed for a very long time were less likely to meet their goal duration.
Did you breastfeeding for longer or shorter than you wanted to? What factors do you think influenced that?
Plus, more from The Bump:
A Smart Start to Breastfeeding: What Every Beginner Should Know
Answers to all your breastfeeding questions
Worst Breastfeeding Advice Ever!
The Knot Blog
The Nest Blog
I was able to breastfeed exclusively until my daughter was 5 months old. I then supplemented with formula and stopped all together when she was 6 months old. It took a lot of dedication to achieve and had many obstacles along the way, but overall I am extremely happy I was able to stick with it for as long as I did. I def agree that avoiding supplementing in the hospital is key! I know a lot of new moms who had a very difficult time with breast feeding because the baby was never hungry when she tried due to supplemental feeding. Trust me, I know you’re exhausted and just wanna sleep for more than 3-4 hours at a time, but the rewards of breastfeeding really are worth the sacrifice for you and most importantly your baby!
I didn’t reach my goal but only because dd started to wean herself when I got pregnant again.
i had a “start small” mentality (each day was a new goal achieved) but in my mind, I definitely wanted to go as long as possible. The hospital I delivered at was mostly great-I was able to nurse within that first hour, they had an LC advising me and a nurse who was incredibly helpful. BUT the second night I was in the hospital, the night nursery nurse threatened that if I didn’t let her supplement my baby, she “would not wake up…ever”. It was the middle of the night, she told me she was taking my daughter out and to the nursery and she WOULD be giving her a bottle of formula. I demanded that she leave and not lay a finger on my baby or I would have her job. we nursed exclusively for 13 months and 2 weeks. i think it’s shameful the way she treated me and have heard she has since done a similar thing to other new moms who deliver there. I’m not someone who thinks formula is poison, but no one should push their agenda on anyone else. not to mention, it’s hard enough to successfully breastfeed with the stigmas and just the challenge of nursing itself. we don’t need more challenges.
I am still breastfeeding and my baby is 7 months 7 weeks old. I am 22 and find that only 4 out of 22 friends with kids breastfed longer than 3 months and most just felt it was easier to formula feed. I do give my daughter formula about 3 times a month like if im on the go and can’t stop to feed im in a hurry. And she prefers it in her cereal over breast milk but boobie is her comfort and her need for sleep and teething pain. I plan on breastfeeding for at least 1 year. She’s so healthy never been sick once and everyone at home has been sick. And shes around other kids too. Yay natural antibodies in breastmilk! Even tho i hate how big my chest has gotten i love breastfeeding my healthy baby girl. But I also completly understand if you didn’t produce enough milk that you had to formula feed i do think if you can you should keep breastfeeding.