Colorado families fall short of breastfeeding: 43% of mothers continue nursing through baby’s first birthday

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)-- August is recognized as National Breastfeeding Month. This month KRDO talked with health experts who said that Colorado mothers are falling short of breastfeeding during the baby's first birthday.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 90 percent of families choose to initiate breastfeeding, however, only 43 percent of Colorado families actually breastfeed through the baby’s first birthday. Falling short of the CDC's Healthy People 2030 goal of 54.1 percent

Colorado breastfeeding experts believe that figure is due to the lack of information moms receive after leaving the hospital. But it's also the barriers working moms face that could be contributing to the decline too. 

Becoming a mom in the first place is not an easy task according to Colorado Springs mom of two, Michelle Howard. And in today's society several moms have a different mindset Howard said.

"Moms are not in the house as much as they used to be, they have jobs, they go to school. Like not every mom is sitting at home or being a stay-at-home wife," said Howard. "Those first few months, like yes, if you are lucky like I was to get maternity leave, you have the time to pump or breastfeed."

But not every mother has that option. The Centers for Disease Control said breastfeeding a baby prevents sudden infant death, respiratory and ear infections along with other benefits. The CDC estimates that fewer than 50 percent of mothers continue nursing throughout their baby's first year. 

"A mom might start breastfeeding. Things might be going well in the hospital and then she is discharged and after that point of time, she doesn't necessarily know where to find the advanced lactation support that she really might need," said Stacy Miller, breastfeeding expert for the Colorado Department of Public Health.

Miller said the decrease in the number of moms breastfeeding across the state could be due to misinformation and medical support. 

"It's usually because they didn't get the support that they needed early on in their breastfeeding journey and then it forces them to have to feed their babies infant formula even if that wasn't their feeding goal," added Miller.  

In Colorado, there are a lot of free resources that help provide moms and their families with nursing guidance. 

Two of those are the Colorado Breast Feeding Coalition and the Women, Infant, and Children Program also known as WIC. Both groups help low-income families. 

"That's another free resource and often in some of our rural communities it's often the only major breastfeeding resource in the community," said Miller.

Although breastfeeding may not be an option for every mother, experts do recommend moms reach out to their healthcare provider about the free programs.