How the Breastfeeding Rates Can Be Improved - Case Study Example

Institute’s Street 30 June Teacher’s English Institute’s Respected (teacher’s , Following the instructions that you had given us, a report entitled; ‘Improvement of Breastfeeding Rates’ is being submitted to you. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the breastfeeding rates in the States and discuss their decline. An attempt at presenting suggestions for the improvement of breastfeeding rates is made in this report. Solutions are presented which may help in improving the rates and every solution is discussed in this report along with personal recommendations. It is hoped that this report will prove to be satisfactory according to your requirements. Sincerely yours, Signature Name Encl.: Report on how the breastfeeding rates can be improved. Improvement of Breastfeeding Rates English Name Summary A report on observing the problem of decreasing breastfeeding rates in the United States. An introduction of the problem and the history is mentioned of the past 20th century and how things changed through years and even after that why the breastfeeding rates could not achieve the aimed heights. Some ways are mentioned in which the rates of breastfeeding can be improved in United States. Figures of the past and future are mentioned in form of tables for comparison as well. Table of Contents I – Introduction ………………………………………………………………………… 5 II – History …………………………………………………………………………….. 5 III - End of 20th and Start of 21st Century ……………………………………………... 6 IV - Increasing the Breastfeeding Rate ………………………………………………... 7 V - The Steps to be Followed ………………………………………………………….. 7 ~ Participation in Surveys ……………………………………………………… 8 ~ Sharing Knowledge and Experience …………………………………………. 8 ~ Valuing the Child Care Providers ……………………………………………. 8 ~ Providing Professional Support ………………………………………………. 8 ~ Mother to Mother Support …………………………………………………….. 9 ~ Infrastructure …………………………………………………………………… 9 VI - Moves by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …………………………….. 10 VII - How Does the Report Card Help? …………………………………………………... 11 VIII - References Used …………………………………………………………………….. 12 Introduction During the time period of 1930 to the 1970s the breastfeeding had dropped to a very low rate. Due to the complicity of doctors in that time, mothers had started to choose cow milk over their own for their babies which had led to a large infant mortality rate as well. Without the acknowledgment of health officials about the issue more and more mothers had never breastfeed in their life. They used to supplement their breast milk with the natural cow’s milk for their babies and wean them in the first few weeks after their births and even months. History It was in 1971 that a record in the decreased rate of breastfeeding was recorded. The breastfeeding rate had hit a low mark of only 24% in the United States. In the entire population of the States in 1971 only 24% had at least breastfed once before they were discharged from the hospital. This went on till the late 1970s until interest in breastfeeding was rekindled by the Feminist Inspired Women’s Health with their Reform Movement (Jacqueline H. Wolf. National Center for biotechnology Information). During that period one victim of social activism, a young mother, reminded the people of how the government then had announced new care practices for infants. She was recorded saying that she never let her daughter drink milk out of a bottle. If anyone needed someone to take care of the baby, there would always be nursing mother volunteering to take care of the baby. She said that she and almost every woman she knew in her neighborhood were nursing (North Country Co-op, Minneapolis. Records, 1972–2000). Even after this movement breastfeeding was never able to achieve the position that it was aiming for in preventive medicine which the physicians in early 20th century had recommended. Instead in that time period medical officials had started believing that pasteurization had the ability to neutralize the difference in cow milk and human breast milk. With the facility of having the cow milk available almost everywhere and the instant ability of getting it, breastfeeding started to seem unnecessary and its crusades, without a purpose to people. End of 20th and Start of 21st Century Even after feminist inspired reform movement, the act of breastfeeding was not able to pick up pace and increase rate in the mothers of United States. The rate of breastfeeding whether keep declining or stay in the same place in the late 20th century. In December of the year 2002, Abbott Laboratories reported the rates as compared to the other ones in their collection of data that they had begun in 1955, which are as follows; Time Period Percentage of Breastfeeding Women 1984 – 1989 Decreased from 60% to 52% 1995 60% 2001 69.5% The year 2001 recorded the highest number of women in the history of United States who initiated breastfeeding. The medical society considered this sudden increase very important to the medical community because the increase was recorded in the least expected members of the American society. These breastfeeding women belonged to minority racial groups, high school dropouts and/or high school graduate students and females who attended the Special Supplemental Nutrition Programs. This program was directed towards women, infants and children and was regarded as WIC. Breastfeeding Today Even though the practice of breastfeeding is different throughout the United States according to racial and social groups, till now from the past 30 years, breastfeeding women are still in minority. Today there are several studies, dozens of them which have showed that it is not whether a child has ever been breastfed in their life that is more meaningful to their health, it’s the duration of time that the a child is breastfed that matters. The time period that a mother feeds her baby human milk is a more profound predictor in her child’s health. The continued low rate of breastfeeding practice is now a concern for medical communities and steps to increase this rate should be taken. Increasing the Breastfeeding Rate Today, the facilities that provide support in breastfeeding get the privilege of having more babies born in them. It is an increased amount than ever before and it is only due to their efforts. Despite this fact only 5% infants of the United States are born in hospitals with baby friendly environments. Such environments are global designations in which the best of services are observed for maternity care in their attempt to support breastfeeding mothers. The time period a mother spends in a hospital with her baby, in learning how to breastfeed, is the most critical one and hospitals need to do as much as they to support both of them. The Steps to be Followed Here; some ways are being mentioned in which hospitals and any maternal care places can help themselves achieve the goal health community is aiming for. Participation in Surveys Hospitals can make and effort and participate in the survey of Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (also known as MPINC). The results that will be obtained from the survey can be used to improve the practices that maternity care procides to mothers. Sharing Knowledge and Experience If one hospital participates in a survey it can publish the results and allow other hospitals to take advantage from it. The suggestions that one hospital makes can be taken under consideration by a dozen other hospitals for application in their facilities and achieve baby friendly designations. Valuing the Child Care Providers Child care these days have emerged like a beacon of hope for working mothers. Child care providers have played an important role in the rate of breastfeeding women in United States. Today, child care facilities give mothers the luxury to breastfeed their babies on site if they see it according to the child’s desires. Valuing and supporting the child care facilities will prove to be very helpful in helping the medical society of United States reach the rate of breastfeeding they aim to achieve. Providing Professional Support Spreading knowledge about breastfeeding should be an important step in increasing the rate of breastfeeding. This can only be possible if campaigns or programs are administered for mothers in teaching them about breastfeeding and letting them know about the lactation problems. Such programs should not only target mothers but also other health facilities, Child care facilities, maternity care and hospitals should also be motivated to participate in such programs to have a better knowledge about the practice. International Board Certifies Lactation Consultants can help by providing experts with knowledge on the subject to health professionals. Mother to Mother Support The best of the support is when the person understands what one is going through and not only be the emotional support but also prove themselves beneficial by giving advice based on personal experience. An accredited organization dedicated to just the cause is Le Leche League. LLLI provides pregnant and breastfeeding women the support and advice they might be looking for by organizing online and group meetings, telephonic communication is also used as well. LLLI comprises of volunteered mothers who are trained to prove supportive to others just like them. This support proves to very helpful in the breastfeeding rates. Infrastructure More than anything, the government health sectors of a country hold the most responsibility in an attempt at increasing the country’s breastfeeding rate. No matter how many private practices there might be, the goal may seem impossible to achieve without the participation from the government. Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) of State Health Department are the central agencies given this responsibility. They are most responsible for the health of their public and welfare of women and children for their cause. Full-Time Equivalents need to be dedicated to the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding campaigns. They should promote public campaigns run on the subject and play their part in implementing the breastfeeding interventions, developing them and maintaining them. Moves by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is doing its best in trying to protect, promote and support breastfeeding. The many benefits that breastfeeding provides to mothers, infants and children is their key strategy to have a better breastfeeding rate in the United States. For this, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention took the liberty and produce, what they call, Report Card (Breastfeeding Report Card, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). The Breastfeeding Report Card was first released in 2007 and is now its 5th year. The Breastfeeding Report Card provides data state by state perspective in breastfeeding. Since after the first Report Card, there have been eminent improvements in many indicators. Very few data-lines from the Report Card are being mentioned here. State Ever Breastfed Breastfeeding at 6 months Breastfeeding at 12 months Exclusive breastfeeding at 3 months Exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months Percent of breastfed infants receiving formula before 2 days California 86.6 59.1 40 48.1 25.7 23.8 Florida 79.5 39 20.2 31.7 12.9 31.4 New York 78.2 47.7 27.7 32.7 13.7 33.2 Texas 75.2 42.2 23 30.6 13.5 30.5 Washington 89 60.2 35 49.1 23 18 Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Immunization Survey, Provisional Data, 2008 births. Because of the Report Card there have been many improvements especially in the 3 month and 6 month exclusive breastfeeding rates. These rates increased 5 and 4 percent respectively. A woman’s ability of achieving her breastfeeding goals concerns around a lot of other people as well; support from family and community members, her employer and the health system. How Does the Report Card Help? Support from people and organizations that mothers have daily interactions with can be very helpful in letting them achieve their goals. The mentioned states in the original Report Card can use the provided data and the data of previous years to compare and keep track of the increase or decrease in any aspect. The Report Card can also be used to identify progress and keep track of the areas where mothers need the most support and work with their communities to protect, promote and support breastfeeding mothers. References Used Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breastfeeding Report Card—United States, 2011. http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/reportcard.htm Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breastfeeding Report Card – Outcome Indicators. http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/reportcard2.htm Jacqueline H. Wolf, PhD. National Center for Biotechonology Inofrmation. PubMed Central. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448139/ North Country Co-op (Minneapolis, Minn) Records, 1972–2000, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minn. Read More