Table 1.
Any breastfeeding, breastfeeding duration, reasons for not starting breastfeeding (among those reporting they did not breastfeed/breastfed 0 weeks/none only), and reasons for stopping breastfeeding (among those reporting any breastfeeding but < 10 weeks duration), stratified by race/ethnicity, weighted to be site representative, Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System Phase 8, 2016–2019
| Overall | American Indian | AlaskaNative | Asian | Black | Hispanic | Native Hawaiian | White | Multiracial | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any breastfeeding | ||||||||||||||||||
| Yes | 5,204,758 | (87.5) | 30,464 | (82.3) | 5,555 | (91.5) | 293,247 | (92.6) | 655,357 | (77.1) | 954,835 | (91.2) | 968 | (99.5) | 3,138,993 | (88.5) | 125,338 | (89.7) |
| No | 740,260 | (12.5) | 6,546 | (17.7) | 514 | (8.5) | 23,461 | (7.4) | 195,124 | (22.9) | 91,723 | (8.8) | 5 | (0.5) | 408,433 | (11.5) | 14,455 | (10.3) |
| Breastfeeding durationa | ||||||||||||||||||
| < 10 weeks | 1,563,609 | (30.0) | 12,033 | (39.5) | 1,473 | (26.5) | 56,912 | (19.4) | 280,310 | (42.8) | 340,377 | (35.6) | 183 | (18.9) | 834,960 | (26.6) | 37,362 | (29.8) |
| ≥ 10 weeks | 3,641,149 | (70.0) | 18,432 | (60.5) | 4,082 | (73.5) | 236,335 | (80.6) | 375,047 | (57.2) | 614,458 | (64.4) | 785 | (81.1) | 2,304,033 | (73.4) | 87,976 | (70.2) |
| Reasons for not startingb | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sick/on medicine | 44,984 | (12.9) | 228 | (28.8) | N/Ad | 254 | (7.1) | 11,104 | (9.9) | 5,352 | (14.3) | N/Ad | 27,097 | (14.2) | 948 | (16.7) | ||
| Take care of other children | 82,408 | (23.5) | 65 | (8.2) | N/Ad | 286 | (8.1) | 22,314 | (19.9) | 9,568 | (25.6) | N/Ad | 48,867 | (25.6) | 1,308 | (23.1) | ||
| Too many household duties | 48,399 | (13.8) | 86 | (10.8) | N/Ad | 155 | (4.4) | 15,171 | (13.6) | 5,214 | (13.9) | N/Ad | 26,623 | (14.0) | 1,151 | (20.3) | ||
| Didn’t like it | 94,815 | (27.1) | 264 | (33.4) | N/Ad | 639 | (18.0) | 36,089 | (32.3) | 9,251 | (24.7) | N/Ad | 47,115 | (24.8) | 1,458 | (25.7) | ||
| Tried but too hard | 56,589 | (16.2) | 78 | (9.9) | N/Ad | 620 | (17.5) | 20,848 | (18.6) | 10,769 | (28.8) | N/Ad | 23,135 | (12.1) | 1,138 | (20.1) | ||
| Didn’t want to | 163,751 | (46.8) | 614 | (77.5) | N/Ad | 971 | (27.3) | 56,698 | (50.7) | 10,616 | (28.4) | N/Ad | 92,298 | (48.4) | 2,554 | (45.1) | ||
| Went back to work | 66,154 | (18.9) | 211 | (26.6) | N/Ad | 505 | (14.2) | 23,260 | (20.8) | 4,785 | (12.8) | N/Ad | 36,270 | (19.0) | 1,123 | (19.8) | ||
| Went back to school | 9,943 | (2.8) | 187 | (23.7) | N/Ad | 232 | (6.5) | 4,324 | (3.9) | 289 | (0.8) | N/Ad | 4,816 | (2.5) | 94 | (1.7) | ||
| Other | 77,773 | (22.2) | 113 | (14.3) | N/Ad | 691 | (19.6) | 17,196 | (15.4) | 10,125 | (27.1) | N/Ad | 47,856 | (25.1) | 1,792 | (31.6) | ||
| Reasons for stoppingc | N/Ad | N/Ad | ||||||||||||||||
| Baby had difficulty latching | 232,286 | (38.7) | 1,559 | (37.7) | N/Ad | 10,486 | (42.4) | 33,670 | (32.9) | 42,987 | (39.5) | N/Ad | 138,607 | (40.2) | 4,956 | (34.8) | ||
| Breastmilk not enough | 230,168 | (38.5) | 1,320 | (32.1) | N/Ad | 11,138 | (45.3) | 30,183 | (29.5) | 45,788 | (42.3) | N/Ad | 136,081 | (39.5) | 5,653 | (39.8) | ||
| Baby not gaining enough weight | 102,866 | (17.2) | 792 | (19.2) | N/Ad | 2,878 | (11.7) | 14,245 | (13.9) | 16,497 | (15.2) | N/Ad | 66,266 | (19.2) | 2,183 | (15.3) | ||
| Nipple pain/soreness | 152,869 | (25.5) | 1,404 | (34.1) | N/Ad | 5,661 | (23.0) | 33,284 | (32.5) | 29,089 | (26.8) | N/Ad | 79,475 | (23.0) | 3,939 | (27.7) | ||
| Not producing enough milk | 344,969 | (57.6) | 2,491 | (60.5) | N/Ad | 14,961 | (60.7) | 49,920 | (48.8) | 63,826 | (58.7) | N/Ad | 204,420 | (59.2) | 9,278 | (65.2) | ||
| Got sick/medical reasons | 62,011 | (10.4) | 494 | (12.0) | N/Ad | 2,031 | (8.3) | 10,714 | (10.5) | 14,581 | (13.4) | N/Ad | 32,837 | (9.5) | 1,336 | (9.5) | ||
| Too many household duties | 103,157 | (17.2) | 900 | (21.9) | N/Ad | 3,876 | (15.8) | 20,670 | (20.2) | 15,433 | (14.2) | N/Ad | 59,395 | (17.2) | 2,866 | (20.3) | ||
| Felt it was right time to stop | 65,227 | (10.9) | 460 | (11.2) | N/Ad | 1,726 | (7.0) | 14,397 | (14.1) | 11,722 | (10.8) | N/Ad | 35,129 | (10.2) | 1,776 | (12.6) | ||
| Went back to work | 99,867 | (16.7) | 655 | (16.0) | N/Ad | 4,793 | (19.5) | 24,404 | (23.8) | 15,548 | (14.3) | N/Ad | 52,617 | (15.3) | 1,782 | (12.6) | ||
| Went back to school | 15,600 | (2.6) | 165 | (4.0) | N/Ad | 718 | (2.9) | 4,918 | (4.8) | 3,369 | (3.1) | N/Ad | 5,598 | (1.6) | 832 | (5.9) | ||
| Other | 115,428 | (19.3) | 827 | (20.1) | N/Ad | 3,791 | (15.3) | 14,596 | (14.3) | 18,877 | (17.3) | N/Ad | 74,873 | (21.7) | 2,463 | (17.3) | ||
a Among those who reported any breastfeeding
b Among women who reported they did not breastfeed/breastfed 0 weeks/none; sites that asked this question included: AL, AR, IA, IL, KY, LA, ME, MI, MO, MT, NC, ND, NH, PR, RI, SD, TX, and VA
c Among women who reported breastfeeding < 10 weeks; sites that asked this question included: AL, IA, IN, KY, ME, MI, MO, MT, NC, ND, NE, NH, YC, NY, PR, SD, VA, WA, and WY
d There were no women who identified as Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian within the subset of states that asked additional questions about reasons for not starting or stopping breastfeeding