AAFP resources encourage FPs to promote, support breastfeeding

Before the advent of the 20th century, breastfeeding didn't need promotion to educate new mothers about its benefits or remind health care professionals that their recommendation to breastfeed improves breastfeeding rates. But that's not the case now.

The United States continues to fall short of the breastfeeding goals set by the HHS' Healthy People 2020 (www.healthypeople.gov) initiative, which call for

• 81.9 percent of infants to be breastfeeding at birth,
• 60.6 percent of infants to be breastfeeding at age 6 months and
• 34.1 percent of infants to be breastfeeding at 1 year.