As National Breast/Chestfeeding Month continues in the United States, there is a very positive update to the just released Healthy People 2030 goals.  The Healthy People 2030 (HP2030) project "sets data-driven national objectives to improve health and well-being over the next decade" for residents of the United States and updates the 2020 goals.  These newly released objectives include two lactation goals for new parent/baby dyads: Increase the number of infants who are exclusively breast/chestfed at 6 months and increase the number of infants who are nursing at 12 months.

The initial draft of the HP2030 proposal only addressed exclusive breast/chestfeeding at 6 months and many perinatal professionals took action to urge the HP2030 committee to include a second lactation objective to the overall goals.  The campaign was a success and the second goal was added supporting any lactation at all at 12 months.

According to the United States Breastfeeding Committee (USBC), this inclusion of the second objective is key because the Healthy People 2030 goals drives actions, campaigns and funding to programs nation-wide in an effort to meet these goals.

Childbirth educators definitely focus on helping families to start off their lactation journeys strong, but including information about how to overcome hurdles, and keep the nursing relationship continuing as baby grows and parents return to work can also be discussed and resources provided.  

These two objectives give us reason to celebrate as the importance of continued breast/chestfeeding beyond the newborn stage is beneficial to the health of the infant and the lactating parent.

Happy National Breastfeeding Month and thanks for all you do to help families meet their breast/chestfeeding goals.

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