(HealthDay)—Receipt of any breast milk varies with gestational age, ranging from 71.3 percent of extremely preterm infants to 84.6 percent of term infants, according to research published in the June 7 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Katelyn V. Chiang, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed 2017 birth certificate data from 48 states and the District of Columbia for 3,194,873 infants to describe receipt of breast milk among extremely preterm, early preterm, late preterm, and term infants. Analyses were further stratified by maternal and infant characteristics.
The researchers found that the prevalence of infants receiving any breast milk was 83.9 percent overall and varied by gestational age, with 71.3, 76.0, 77.3, and 84.6 percent of extremely preterm, early preterm, late preterm, and term infants, respectively, receiving any breast milk. Across gestational age groups, there were disparities in the receipt of breast milk by several sociodemographic factors, including maternal race/ethnicity.
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