Most Louisiana mothers choose not to breastfeed, study shows.

2004 SEP 2 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Fewer than half of Louisiana mothers even try to breast-feed their babies, a number much lower than the rest of the nation, a recent federal study shows.

Nationwide, about 70% of women have breast-fed their babies, a practice that not only nourishes babies but also is found to protect them from disease.

But only about 46% of Louisiana mothers have ever breast-fed their babies, according to the survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Fewer than 17% of 6-month-olds in the state receive breast milk and only 6% get breast milk at 1 year of age. The number of children that are exclusively breast-fed is even lower.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC's parent agency, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that mothers feed their children solely breast milk for the first six months, followed by the gradual introduction of solid food. The academy advocates breast-feeding for at least a year.

The state's low ranking did not surprise Meshawn Tarver, coordinator of the breast-feeding program at the Tulane-Xavier Center of Excellence in Women's Health.

"The rates have been that way for a while," she said. "I think it has a lot to do with the social issues in New Orleans, people are embarrassed to breast-feed in public. And because there are so many generations of women who have not breast-fed, two or three generations, when their children have children, they don't know what to do and don't know it's an option."