Policies

CDC's goal is to increase breastfeeding rates in the United States and to promote optimal breastfeeding practices. It is the consensus of breastfeeding professionals nationwide that this goal can be achieved by supporting breastfeeding in the family, through places of work, among health care providers, in the community, and throughout society.
(Reference: HHS Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding

U.S. Government Breastfeeding Policies

Healthy People 2010, National Objectives on Breastfeeding
Healthy People 2010 is a national health promotion and disease prevention initiative that brings together national, state, and local government agencies; nonprofit, voluntary, and professional organizations, businesses, communities; and individuals to address major public health issues.

What major factors have influenced breastfeeding policy throughout the United States?

Within the Federal Government

• 1984 U.S. Surgeon General's Workshop on Breastfeeding & Human Lactation
• 1990 Innocenti Declaration, WHO and UNICEF can be found at the UNICEF Web site.
• 2000 Healthy People 2010: Objectives for Improving Health
• 2000 HHS Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding

Major Health Professional Organizations' Policies and Positions on Breastfeeding Promotion

• American Academy of Family Physicians
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American College of Nurse-Midwives
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• American Dietetic Association
• Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
• National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners

Top of Page