TABLE. Percentage of live infants not transferred to another facility for whom breastfeeding was initiated,* by state/territory and maternal race/ethnicity† — National Vital Statistics System, 48 states,§ District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico, 2019.
| Jurisdiction | No. of infants¶ (% initiating breastfeeding) |
Largest disparity** | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | Hispanic | White | Black | Asian | AI/AN | NH/OPI | Multiracial | ||
|
United States††
|
3,129,646 (84.1)
|
665,584 (87.4)
|
1,686,505 (85.5)
|
492,852 (73.6)§§
|
164,602 (90.3)¶¶
|
25,807 (76.6)
|
7,843 (80.2)
|
69,626 (83.1)
|
16.7
|
| Alabama |
56,054 (69.6) |
4,730 (64.2) |
32,031 (77.2) |
17,285 (56.1)§§ |
863 (84.6)¶¶ |
140 (73.6) |
—*** |
971 (71.5) |
28.5 |
| Alaska |
9,492 (92.9) |
761 (95.9) |
4,685 (96.3)¶¶ |
288 (94.4) |
569 (81.0) |
1,812 (88.5) |
293 (76.1)§§ |
919 (94.7) |
20.2 |
| Arizona |
78,613 (88.9) |
33,426 (87.9) |
31,629 (91.1) |
4,489 (84.5) |
2,846 (93.3)¶¶ |
3,739 (84.7) |
218 (80.7)§§ |
1,842 (86.6) |
12.6 |
| Arkansas |
34,123 (73.7) |
3,769 (81.9) |
21,994 (78.0) |
6,052 (52.3)§§ |
698 (85.0)¶¶ |
218 (72.9) |
506 (67.0) |
654 (74.3) |
32.7 |
| Colorado |
62,552 (92.8) |
18,032 (90.4) |
35,906 (94.6)¶¶ |
3,009 (88.4) |
2,552 (93.3) |
375 (85.1)§§ |
167 (91.0) |
1,532 (92.3) |
9.5 |
| Connecticut |
34,558 (87.4) |
8,861 (85.5) |
18,616 (88.4) |
4,096 (84.0)§§ |
2,253 (93.1)¶¶ |
— |
— |
687 (84.6) |
9.1 |
| Delaware |
10,717 (80.5) |
1,723 (83.8) |
5,332 (82.2) |
2,687 (72.7) |
608 (93.8)¶¶ |
— |
— |
329 (72.6)§§ |
21.2 |
| DC |
13,092 (84.2) |
1,846 (82.5) |
4,799 (97.1)¶¶ |
5,313 (71.2)§§ |
808 (95.5) |
— |
— |
300 (88.7) |
25.9 |
| Florida |
215,942 (87.2) |
67,193 (91.1) |
91,783 (87.7) |
46,750 (79.6)§§ |
6,944 (92.9)¶¶ |
224 (81.7) |
161 (88.8) |
2,839 (86.6) |
13.3 |
| Georgia |
124,711 (83.1) |
18,259 (90.1) |
53,889 (84.5) |
43,241 (77.0)§§ |
5,777 (93.9)¶¶ |
93 (83.9) |
99 (81.8) |
2,472 (84.6) |
16.9 |
| Hawaii |
16,583 (89.6) |
2,567 (92.1) |
3,182 (96.8)¶¶ |
422 (96.2) |
4,287 (86.3) |
— |
1,671 (78.2)§§ |
4,387 (90.3) |
18.6 |
| Idaho |
21,463 (92.2) |
3,653 (90.1) |
16,448 (92.8) |
258 (94.6) |
347 (93.7) |
224 (78.6)§§ |
74 (97.3)¶¶ |
401 (91.8) |
18.7 |
| Illinois |
134,795 (83.1) |
29,555 (86.4) |
70,731 (85.2) |
22,406 (67.7)§§ |
9,091 (93.1)¶¶ |
74 (81.1) |
— |
1,904 (81.5) |
25.4 |
| Indiana |
80,077 (82.9) |
8,316 (85.4)¶¶ |
57,777 (84.1) |
10,077 (74.1)§§ |
2,250 (84.0) |
58 (75.9) |
59 (79.7) |
1,516 (81.1) |
11.3 |
| Iowa |
36,876 (83.1) |
3,821 (81.0) |
28,030 (84.9) |
2,861 (69.6)§§ |
1,102 (85.5)¶¶ |
259 (73.7) |
156 (73.7) |
645 (78.3) |
15.9 |
| Kansas |
36,442 (89.6) |
6,290 (87.1) |
25,216 (90.9) |
2,626 (84.3) |
1,250 (93.4)¶¶ |
131 (84.7) |
66 (77.3)§§ |
797 (85.3) |
16.1 |
| Kentucky |
49,321 (71.7) |
3,216 (82.1) |
39,288 (71.1) |
4,650 (67.0)§§ |
1,007 (86.8)¶¶ |
— |
58 (79.3) |
924 (69.9) |
19.8 |
| Louisiana |
56,966 (71.0) |
4,851 (82.2) |
28,945 (78.9) |
21,027 (56.5)§§ |
1,136 (87.0)¶¶ |
239 (70.7) |
— |
705 (74.3) |
30.5 |
| Maine |
11,148 (89.4) |
237 (85.2) |
9,844 (89.4) |
514 (92.0) |
211 (93.4)¶¶ |
87 (83.9)§§ |
— |
249 (83.9)§§ |
9.5 |
| Maryland |
66,056 (87.1) |
12,166 (94.1) |
27,898 (86.4) |
19,537 (82.0)§§ |
4,547 (95.4)¶¶ |
67 (83.6) |
— |
1,582 (84.5) |
13.4 |
| Massachusetts |
68,897 (88.4) |
14,027 (86.9) |
39,346 (88.3) |
6,776 (90.5) |
6,197 (91.4)¶¶ |
78 (84.6)§§ |
— |
1,491 (85.5) |
6.8 |
| Minnesota |
62,276 (89.7) |
4,867 (90.2) |
42,110 (91.9)¶¶ |
7,690 (87.5) |
5,032 (78.9) |
858 (67.5)§§ |
52 (86.5) |
1,545 (85.8) |
24.4 |
| Mississippi |
35,022 (64.7) |
1,620 (71.7) |
17,195 (74.5) |
15,270 (52.5) |
437 (83.3)¶¶ |
219 (49.3)§§ |
— |
255 (70.6) |
34.0 |
| Missouri |
69,799 (79.7) |
4,228 (81.0) |
50,967 (82.2) |
10,019 (65.5)§§ |
1,731 (88.9)¶¶ |
150 (72.0) |
219 (74.0) |
2,224 (78.6) |
23.4 |
| Montana |
10,929 (90.6) |
611 (90.0) |
8,737 (93.1)¶¶ |
61 (86.9) |
116 (89.7) |
1,050 (70.2)§§ |
— |
324 (88.6) |
22.9 |
| Nebraska |
24,724 (88.6) |
4,145 (85.5) |
17,316 (90.5) |
1,570 (78.6) |
835 (91.1)¶¶ |
218 (74.3)§§ |
— |
617 (84.1) |
16.8 |
| Nevada |
33,410 (80.0) |
12,610 (81.9) |
11,895 (84.2)¶¶ |
4,263 (64.1)§§ |
2,542 (81.2) |
241 (83.4) |
363 (72.2) |
1,386 (77.4) |
20.1 |
| New Hampshire |
11,609 (90.8) |
728 (90.1) |
9,979 (90.6) |
253 (94.9) |
454 (96.5)¶¶ |
— |
— |
129 (85.3)§§ |
11.2 |
| New Jersey |
95,969 (79.7) |
26,746 (80.9) |
43,923 (81.0) |
12,877 (70.9)§§ |
10,317 (83.2)¶¶ |
64 (73.4) |
— |
1,075 (78.4) |
12.3 |
| New Mexico |
21,040 (86.1) |
11,503 (84.8) |
5,728 (88.9) |
332 (81.6)§§ |
374 (91.2)¶¶ |
2,688 (86.1) |
— |
370 (84.9) |
9.6 |
| New York |
219,529 (87.9) |
49,898 (90.4)¶¶ |
107,699 (87.4) |
31,926 (84.4) |
24,683 (89.8) |
358 (82.1) |
71 (81.7)§§ |
3,195 (82.3) |
8.7 |
| North Carolina |
119,198 (81.6) |
19,084 (88.1) |
62,586 (84.6) |
27,785 (70.8) |
4,957 (89.0)¶¶ |
1,429 (52.1)§§ |
127 (82.7) |
3,130 (79.4) |
36.9 |
| North Dakota |
11,702 (85.0) |
733 (83.8) |
8,499 (88.2) |
756 (86.0) |
251 (91.6)¶¶ |
847 (54.0)§§ |
— |
358 (81.3) |
37.6 |
| Ohio |
128,555 (76.0) |
7,428 (77.8) |
91,498 (77.2) |
21,415 (68.8)§§ |
4,237 (87.1)¶¶ |
98 (78.6) |
101 (72.3) |
3,600 (70.9) |
18.3 |
| Oklahoma |
46,523 (81.8) |
7,284 (81.8) |
25,823 (84.7) |
3,961 (71.6) |
1,215 (85.8)¶¶ |
4,485 (74.8) |
218 (62.4)§§ |
3,478 (80.2) |
23.4 |
| Oregon |
41,473 (94.8) |
8,019 (94.7) |
27,456 (94.9) |
1,006 (94.9) |
2,374 (97.1)¶¶ |
398 (88.4)§§ |
336 (91.1) |
1,599 (93.7) |
8.7 |
| Pennsylvania |
128,439 (82.2) |
16,017 (81.8) |
84,758 (83.0) |
16,922 (76.9)§§ |
6,002 (91.1)¶¶ |
77 (79.2) |
— |
3,073 (77.7) |
14.2 |
| Rhode Island |
10,592 (67.7) |
2,919 (56.3) |
5,959 (75.2) |
828 (54.5)§§ |
528 (76.1)¶¶ |
— |
— |
272 (56.6) |
21.6 |
| South Carolina |
52,493 (78.1) |
5,414 (86.5) |
28,919 (82.8) |
15,609 (66.0)§§ |
1,001 (90.6)¶¶ |
100 (68.0) |
53 (73.6) |
1,275 (77.1) |
24.6 |
| South Dakota |
11,966 (80.7) |
679 (77.5) |
8,758 (84.7)¶¶ |
421 (79.1) |
208 (72.6) |
1,479 (61.2)§§ |
— |
398 (76.1) |
23.5 |
| Tennessee |
84,201 (81.1) |
8,596 (85.3) |
55,082 (83.0) |
16,540 (71.3)§§ |
1,846 (92.0)¶¶ |
97 (87.6) |
73 (87.7) |
1,588 (83.2) |
20.7 |
| Texas |
376,721 (88.5) |
179,268 (88.4) |
124,558 (90.4) |
47,113 (81.5)§§ |
19,806 (95.2)¶¶ |
693 (87.6) |
572 (86.5) |
4,349 (87.8) |
13.7 |
| Utah |
47,200 (86.2) |
8,194 (81.8) |
33,650 (88.8)¶¶ |
608 (73.4) |
1,088 (85.1) |
354 (75.7) |
447 (69.1)§§ |
1,073 (88.6) |
19.7 |
| Vermont |
5,062 (91.3) |
124 (93.5) |
4,555 (91.0)§§ |
126 (97.6)¶¶ |
123 (97.6)¶¶ |
— |
— |
82 (93.9) |
6.6 |
| Virginia |
95,415 (86.2) |
14,294 (92.1) |
51,270 (87.3) |
20,448 (76.3)§§ |
7,351 (94.5)¶¶ |
142 (88.0) |
124 (89.5) |
1,706 (87.7) |
18.2 |
| Washington |
82,930 (94.6) |
15,885 (92.8) |
46,246 (95.3) |
3,689 (94.4) |
8,665 (96.7)¶¶ |
996 (88.8)§§ |
1,177 (91.0) |
3,557 (94.7) |
7.9 |
| West Virginia |
18,187 (64.8) |
359 (77.4) |
16,590 (64.6) |
591 (59.4)§§ |
170 (86.5)¶¶ |
— |
— |
387 (64.6) |
27.1 |
| Wisconsin |
60,439 (81.1) |
6,270 (79.0) |
42,876 (86.6)¶¶ |
6,357 (53.8)§§ |
2,851 (68.4) |
581 (69.2) |
— |
1,329 (76.1) |
32.8 |
| Wyoming |
5,765 (83.9) |
762 (77.3) |
4,504 (85.6) |
52 (65.4)§§ |
65 (87.7)¶¶ |
170 (70.6) |
— |
106 (83.0) |
22.3 |
| NMI |
669 (97.3) |
— |
— |
— |
252 (97.6)¶¶ |
— |
377 (97.3)§§ |
— |
0.3 |
| Guam |
2,661 (80.6) |
— |
175 (90.9)¶¶ |
— |
721 (78.5)§§ |
— |
1,607 (79.9) |
86 (84.9) |
12.4 |
| Puerto Rico | 19,910 (93.6) | 19,432 (93.6)¶¶ | 401 (92.3)§§ | — | — | — | — | — | 1.3 |
Abbreviations: AI/AN = American Indian/Alaska Native; DC = District of Columbia; NH/OPI = Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander; NMI = Northern Mariana Islands.
* Excludes infants transferred to another facility within 24 hours of delivery and those who died before completion of the birth certificate.
† All racial/ethnic groups are non-Hispanic unless otherwise noted.
§ Includes all states except California and Michigan.
¶ Denominators might not sum to total because of missing maternal race/ethnicity data.
** Largest disparity is defined as the percentage point difference in breastfeeding initiation prevalence between the racial/ethnic groups with the highest and lowest initiation prevalence.
†† United States estimates include data from 48 states and DC but exclude data from territories.
§§ Racial/ethnic group with the lowest breastfeeding initiation prevalence.
¶¶ Racial/ethnic group with highest breastfeeding initiation prevalence.
*** Data were suppressed for all racial/ethnic groups with denominators <50.