HHS HealthBeat (June 20, 2008)

More breastfeeding

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

For Baby, mother’s milk is the best food going. And it looks like more women are realizing this. National survey data indicate 77 percent of infants born in 2005 and 2006 were breastfed, compared with 60 percent of infants born in 1993 and 1994.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did the analysis. Margaret McDowell of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics:

``It’s encouraging that more women in the U.S. are breastfeeding after they give birth. It’s certainly an important nutritional benefit for newborn infants.’’ (10 seconds)

Breast milk has the right mix of protein, vitamins and minerals, and many other substances, such as antibodies that can protect babies against disease in their first few months.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: June, 20 2008