Breast-feeding rates are increasing across the country, and DeKalb Medical has joined a national project to improve hospital maternity practices to better support a mother’s choice to breast-feed.

Best Fed Beginnings is led by the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality through a collaborative funding agreement with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC’s annual Breastfeeding Report Card shows that breast-feeding rates are on the rise with increases of about 2 percentage points in breast-feeding initiation and breast-feeding at 6 and 12 months.

Breast-feeding initiation increased from 74.6 percent in 2008 to 76.9 percent in 2009 births. This improvement in initiation represents the largest annual increase over the previous decade. Breast-feeding is widely recognized as the healthiest choice for both baby and mother.

DeKalb Medical announced in August, which was observed as National Breastfeeding Month, that it intends to become designated as “Baby-Friendly.” The designation means that a hospital has implemented the American Academy of Pediatrics-endorsed 10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, as established in the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative.

Margie Hunter, executive director of Women & Infants Services at DeKalb Medical, said the project is a good fit.

“One of the reasons moms choose to deliver their babies at DeKalb Medical is because of the internationally recognized breast-feeding and lactation support programs that we offer before, during and after childbirth,” Hunter said in an Aug. 15 statement. “We are excited to participate in the Best Fed Beginnings partnership.”

For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/reportcard.htm#Indicators and contact Jamie Ray, manager of Obstetric Community Education, at 404-501-3050.