New Hampshire Breastfeeding Marks Rank High, But Must Get Better: CDC Study

New Hampshire is one of the three best places for mothers to deliver a baby, if they want to breast feed, according to a new report card issued this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Granite State scored 90 for its maternity center and hospitals' efforts to support breastfeeding. That number tied Delaware.

Only Rhode Island did better. The littlest state in the nation scored 96. According to the report card, 98.2 percent of live births in Rhode Island happened at so-called baby-friendly hospitals, meaning they're recognized by the World Health Organization as the best care providers for breastfeeding.

Fifty percent of Granite State babies were born at baby-friendly facilities. That was good enough for third place behind Delaware at 85.8 percent.

But in the big picture, New Hampshire actually has lost some ground over the past two years in the campaign to encourage breastfeeding,

On one key indictor -- the breastfeeding rate (or proportion of babies who were ever breastfed) -- New Hampshire's score sank from 86.4 (in the CDC's 2014 report card) to 79.6 this year.

But when considering how many babies are still being exclusively breast fed at six months, New Hampshire --at 26.8 percent -- compared favorably to other U.S. states.

Montana (33.8 percent); Maine (32 percent); Vermont (31.3 percent); Oregon (30.6 percent); Hawaii (30 percent); Idaho (28.1 percent); Washington (28 percent); Alaska (27.8 percent); Rhode Island (27.4 percent); Utah and Wyoming (both 27 percent) did better.

Massachusetts, which is one of only 29 states to already meet the 2020 goal for percentage ever breastfed, dropped down to 19.9 percent, when the measurements look at babies exclusively on breast milk when six months old. However, 67.9 percent of Bay State babies were still being breast fed at six months, and that statistic was third best in the U.S. behind Utah at 70.4 percent and Oregon at 68.2 percent.

Connecticut, Vermont and Maine are also among the 29 states meeting the 2020 goals.

Rhode Island and New Hampshire are the only two New England states yet to meet the 2020 goals.

The CDC considers breastfeeding "a key strategy to improve public health" with benefits for mothers, infants and children. Ideally, infants should be exclusively breast fed for their first six months and then fed some breast milk along with other foods for their first year, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.