Breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for most infants, and it can lower the risk of certain health conditions for both babies and mothers. Yet only about 1 in 3 infants in the United States is exclusively breastfed, as recommended, until they are 6 months old.
Benefits for babies
Infants who are breastfed have a lower risk of:
- asthma;
- severe lower respiratory disease;
- obesity;
- type 1 diabetes;
- childhood leukemia;
- acute otitis media (ear infections);
- sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS);
- gastrointestinal infections, which can cause diarrhea and vomiting;
- in preterm infants, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) — the death of intestinal tissue.
Benefits for mothers
Breastfeeding can help lower a mother's risk of:
- high blood pressure;
- type 2 diabetes;
- ovarian cancer;
- breast cancer.
The numbers
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Infants exclusively breastfed to 6 months, as recommended | about 1 in 3 (30%) |
| Infants who ever breastfeed — national | 86% |
| Infants who ever breastfeed — Black infants | 79%, below the national average |
| Babies who start out breastfeeding | 70% in 2000 → 86% in 2023 |
| Hospitals using more than half of the recommended maternity care practices that support breastfeeding (mPINC data) | 44% in 2018 → 53% in 2024 |
| Added U.S. medical costs for mother and child from low breastfeeding rates | more than $3 billion a year |
The hospital practices measured match the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, a global standard for promoting breastfeeding in hospitals.
What CDC does
CDC works with state and local organizations on continuity of care in breastfeeding — quality, consistent support over time, from hospital initiatives to workplace accommodation and community support.
In health care, it promotes best practices by:
- supporting the Ten Steps in hospitals;
- encouraging obstetricians, pediatricians and nurses to teach new mothers about breastfeeding.
At work and in the community, it:
- partners with states to help employers support breastfeeding mothers with places to pump and store milk, flexible hours and maternity leave;
- promotes access to peer counseling and supplemental nutrition programs;
- supports policies in early care and education settings that make it easier to keep breastfeeding.
Through data, it tracks how long infants are breastfed and reports how well states and hospitals support breastfeeding mothers.
More: CDC's recommendations, activities for state and local organizations, and The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Support Breastfeeding.
Sources
Based on "About Breastfeeding," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, updated July 31, 2026; a work of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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