Breastfeeding in Toronto

Mothers’ Reports of the WHO/UNICEF Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the WHO International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes, by Hospital of Delivery, Toronto, 2007/08. [...] The World Health Organization (WHO), Health Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (OMHLTC), and Toronto Public Health (TPH) support exclusive breastfeeding to six months of age; the introduction of complementary foods at six months; and continued breastfeeding for the first two years of life and beyond. [...] To inform the development of this report card, TPH conducted a breastfeeding study to gain a better understanding of rates of breastfeeding initiation and duration of any and exclusive breastfeeding among first-time mothers, as well as factors associated with breastfeeding. [...] Sociodemographic and sociocultural information, rates of breastfeeding initiation, rates of any and exclusive breastfeeding at hospital discharge and two weeks postpartum, and mothers’ reports of hospital breastfeeding policies and practices were further summarized by the hospital in which the mother gave birth. [...] I. Toronto Public Health 2 Any and Exclusive Breastfeeding at Hospital Discharge, Two Weeks and Six Months Postpartum • Of the mothers who initiated breastfeeding in hospital, 97.1% reported breastfeeding at hospital discharge and 97.5% reported breastfeeding to two weeks postpartum.