Breastfeeding in Early Postpartum Period
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Percentage of Mothers Who Initiated Breastfeeding by County, New Mexico, Non-standard Period
Percentage of Mothers Who Initiated Breastfeeding: Exclusively at Two Months Postpartum by County, New Mexico, Non-standard Period
Why Is This Important?
Breastfeeding provides a variety of important benefits for infants, mothers, families, society, and environment. It is the normal, preferred feeding for all infants, including premature and sick babies, with rare exceptions (American Academy of Pediatrics, 1997). Breast milk benefits the newborn infant by providing the ideal balance of nutrients, enzymes, immunoglobulin, anti-infective and anti-inflammatory substances, hormones, and growth factors. Breastfeeding helps the mother return to the physiologic pre-pregnant state. It benefits both mother and child by providing a time of intense, nurturing, maternal-infant interaction. In addition, breastfeeding provides social and economic benefits to the family, including reduced health care costs and reduced employee absenteeism for care related to children's illnesses.
Definition
The percentage of mothers who ever breastfed and were breastfeeding exclusively at two months. Data for combined years, 1997-2010. The following county estimates were combined due to small number of surveys: Colfax and Union; Catron and Sierra; De Baca, Harding and Quay; Guadelupe and San Miguel.
Data Sources
- U.S. Data Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PRAMStat
(https://www.cdc.gov/prams/pramstat/index.html) - New Mexico Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, Family Health Bureau, New Mexico Department of Health.
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | The number of PRAMS survey respondents who indicated they were breastfeeding at each of the two time periods. |
| Denominator: | The total number of women in the PRAMS survey sample. |
What Is Being Done?
The New Mexico Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program WIC supports over 70% of NM women giving live birth, either prenatally or postpartum and promotes and supports breastfeeding. WIC Breastfeeding Promotion activities include: training of professional and paraprofessional staff, providing grants to local agencies for "Peer Counseling Programs," providing hand pumps and electric pumps to WIC mothers, and developing written policies for WIC clinics that promote breastfeeding. State and Federal laws protect pumping of breast milk in the workplace: USE OF A BREAST PUMP IN THE WORKPLACE: NMSA 1978, Section 28-20-2 (amended 2007) requires employers to provide flexible break time, and a clean, private space, not a bathroom, in order to foster the ability of a nursing mother who is an employee to use a breast pump in the workplace.