Differences in Exclusive Breastfeeding Rates in US Hospitals According to Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative Designation and Area Deprivation Index Category

Background: Disparities in breastfeeding persist placing a greater burden of disease on non-Hispanic black and Hispanic women and infants. Targeted implementation of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in areas at risk for poor breastfeeding outcomes has been shown to improve disparities in breastfeeding. The area deprivation index (ADI), a measure of the relative socioeconomic disadvantage of a neighborhood, may be useful in exploring the accessibility of BFHI hospitals in highly deprived areas and the differences in exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates in hospitals with and without the BFHI designation across deprivation categories. Objective: To evaluate the geographical distribution of BFHI and non-BFHI hospitals across ADI categories and explore the differences in EBF rates in BFHI and non-BFHI hospitals across ADI categories. Methods: Hospital EBF rates obtained from the Joint Commission included 414 BFHI and 1,532 non-BFHI hospitals. State ADI rank scores were determined for each hospital's census block group. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the geographic distribution of BFHI hospitals across three ADI categories (low, medium, and high). EBF rates across ADI categories and BFHI designations were compared using multiway analysis of variance. Results: The distribution of BFHI was similar across all ADI categories, ranging from 18% to 24%. EBF rates were 4.9% lower in highly deprived areas compared to areas with lower deprivation (p < 0.01). BFHI was associated with significantly higher EBF rates across all ADI categories (6.9%-11.2%, p < 0.01). Conclusion: ADI may be a useful tool for targeting the implementation of BFHI in hospitals in highly deprived areas to reduce breastfeeding disparities.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the geographical distribution of BFHI and non-BFHI hospitals across different ADI categories, finding that BFHI was associated with higher EBF rates, especially in highly deprived areas.