Vermont, New Hampshire get top honors for breast-feeding promotion

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A national report says Vermont and New Hampshire are tied for first among states promoting breast-feeding at hospitals.

A survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that practices unfriendly to breast-feeding are common throughout the country. Those practices include giving formula or some other supplement to more than half of healthy newborns.

Of hospitals who gave supplements, 30 percent gave sugar water and 15 percent gave water.

The research was based on questionnaires filled out last year by about 2,700  U.S. maternity hospitals and birth centers. Hospitals were scored on supportive efforts, like offering breast-feeding tips and keeping the mother and the infant together. They also were evaluated on practices detrimental to breast-feeding, including supplemental feedings or including infant formula samples in gift packs for mothers.

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