Baby-Friendly Hospital: Hospitals designated through the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) apply best practice standards known as the World Health Organization/United Nations Children's Funds Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding. The Ten Steps increase in-hospital breastfeeding rates which improves health for mothers and their infants right from the start. To achieve BFHI designation, which is accredited nationally through the organization Baby-Friendly USA, a facility must:

• Demonstrate that at least 80 percent of mothers are exclusively breastfeeding at the time of discharge or that there was a medical indication or parental request for formula;
• Adhere to the International Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes; and
• Successfully implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding (Ten Steps), jointly developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund.

Race and Ethnicity: Race or ethnicity information shown in the dashboard refers to the mother, not the infant. Women who identified themselves as Hispanic were classified as Hispanic regardless of race. Women who did not identify as Hispanic were classified as non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, or non-Hispanic Other. The non-Hispanic Other category includes Native American, Asian, or multiracial.

DSHS Campaigns and Initiatives

Learn more about what the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is doing to improve infant health.

Safe Infant Sleep Campaign
Right from the Start Brastfeeding Awareness Campaign
Texas Mother Friendly Worksite Program
Texas Collaborative for Healthy Mothers and Babies

Additional Information

Bartick, M., & Reinhold, A. (2010). The burden of suboptimal brastfeeding in the United States: a pediatric cost analysis. Pediatrics, 125(5), e1048-e1056.

World Health Organization. Breastfeeding. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/health-topics/breastfeeding#tab=tab_1 [Accessed March 28, 2022].

Crowe, S. D., & Hanley, L. E. (2018). Optimizing Support for Breastfeeding as Part of Obstetric Practice. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 132(4) e187-e196.

Johnston, M., Landers, S., Noble, L., Szucs, K., Viehmann, L. (2012). Breastfeeding and the Use of Human Milk. Section on Breastfeeding. Pediatrics Mar 2012, 129(3) DOI: 10.15422/peds.2011-3552.

Texas Department of State Health Services, Community Health Improvement Division, Maternal and Child Health Section (2019). 2018 Texas WIC Infant Feeding Practices Survey State Report.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2020). Rates of Any and Exclusive Breastfeeding by State among Children Born in 2018. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding-data/survey/results.html?CDC_AAref_Val=https://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/data/nis_data/results.html [Accessed March 28, 2022].

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Data, Trend and Maps. Retreived from https://www.cdc.gov/dnpao-data-trends-maps/about/index.html [Accessed October 21, 2022].

Optimizing support for breastfeeding as part of obstetric practice. Committee Opinion No. 658. Obstet Gynecol, 127(2), e86-e92.