Support for breastfeeding is focus of conference Aug. 3

Although breastfeeding is a natural process, many moms need help and have a lot of questions. Other moms who are currently breastfeeding or have in the past, along with professionals who have experience with promoting and consulting on lactation practices, can be great resources. The Division of Public Health is bringing these groups together in one place to support breastfeeding and its many benefits at the WIC World Breastfeeding Celebration from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 3, at Dover Downs Conference Center in Dover, to commemorate World Breastfeeding Week Aug. 1-7. The conference theme is Sustaining Breastfeeding Together. Registration is free and opens at 8:30 a.m. and will remain open throughout the day.

This daylong conference brings together breastfeeding partners from across the state as well as national speakers and community members to celebrate the many benefits breastfeeding offers mom and baby. Sessions include The Role of Implicit Bias in Breastfeeding Disparities; Grassroots Innovation and Best Practices; Breastfeeding Support for African-American Families; Promoting, Protecting and Preserving Breastfeeding; and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome-Breastfeeding Support for Mothers and Babies.

For more information or to register, contact Ida Lewis at 302-741-2900 or Ida.Lewis@state.de.us.

The WIC Breastfeeding Celebration also serves to highlight August as National Breastfeeding Month. "Breastfeeding is important for so many reasons," said DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay. "It starts infants on a healthy life course because it is the optimal nutrition for infants and protects them from many illnesses and diseases."

Breastfeeding protects babies from sudden infant death syndrome, diarrhea, ear infections, pneumonia, allergies and asthma. Babies who are breastfed exclusively for six months are less likely to become obese. The benefits of breastfeeding are dose-related; the more breast milk a baby receives, the greater the protection for both mother and baby. Mothers who breastfeed have less risk of breast and ovarian cancers, and lose pregnancy weight faster.

Major medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics, World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others, recommend that babies receive only breast milk for the first six months of life and that breastfeeding continue for at least the baby's first year, and for as long as mom and baby wish. Of Delaware infants born in 2013, 18.9 percent were breastfed exclusively through six months, compared with 22.3 percent nationally and the Healthy People 2020 goal of 25.5 percent. At one year of age, 24.5 percent of Delaware infants born in 2013 were breastfed, compared to 30.7 percent nationally and the Healthy People 2020 goal of 34.1 percent.

While still below the national average, Delaware continues to make progress in breastfeeding support due to the collaboration of health systems, businesses, state agencies and private citizens.

• Breastfeeding support in the workplace, including flexible break time and private space to pump, has been legislatively mandated for all employers and employees in the state.
• Delaware child care regulations require breastfeeding support in both center and family-based care.
• In 2015, Delaware became the third state in the nation to eliminate formula gift bags in all hospitals.
• Delaware ranks second in the nation in maternity practices supportive of infant nutrition and care, as measured by the CDC's mPINC survey. This is due to the extensive efforts of labor and delivery hospitals on breastfeeding quality improvement.
• Four out of six labor and delivery hospitals in Delaware have been designated as Baby Friendly, an international designation which recognizes facilities that provide the information confidence and skills to support infant feeding and mother-baby bonding: Beebe Healthcare, Bayhealth Kent General Hospital, Bayhealth Milford Memorial Hospital and Christiana Care Health System. Approximately 79 percent of births in Delaware now occur in facilities designated as Baby-Friendly.
• 712 healthcare practitioners from OB/GYN, family practice and pediatrics offices across the state have been trained in breastfeeding best practices.
• Two major annual events, the Delaware State Fair and the Firefly Music Festival, have incorporated breastfeeding-friendly areas to support families attending the festivities.

For more information on breastfeeding, go to www.delawarebreastfeeding.org or www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding.