Cost Comparison of Baby Friendly and Non–Baby Friendly Hospitals in the United States

Abstract

These results suggest that becoming baby-friendly is relatively cost-neutral for a typical acute care hospital. Although the overall expense of providing baby-friendly hospital nursery services is greater than nursery service costs of non-baby-friendly hospitals, the cost difference was not statistically significant. Additional research is needed to compare the economic impact of maternal and infant health benefits from breastfeeding versus the incremental expenses of becoming a baby-friendly hospital.

Baby‐Friendly Hospital Practices and Birth Costs

“…These findings are consistent with the findings of DelliFraine et al. Using two different methods to compare Baby‐Friendly designated hospitals to non‐Baby‐Friendly hospitals their study found that costs were 1.6–5.0% ($35–$178) higher for Baby‐Friendly hospitals, which was not a statistically significant difference . Similarly, we found a slightly higher but nonsignificant difference in birth costs associated with improved maternity care practices.…”

“…For example, with 24‐hour rooming‐in there exists no need for staff to feed and care for infants in a newborn nursery. A 2010 study by DelliFraine et al compared the cost of a birth at Baby‐Friendly designated hospitals with non Baby‐Friendly designated hospitals in the United States and found the cost of a birth slightly, but not significantly, higher at Baby‐Friendly designated hospitals . Many states have chosen to emphasize incremental implementation of all or some of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding to improve maternity practices, rather than immediately pursuing Baby‐Friendly designation for their hospitals.…”

The New Hampshire Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding Collaborative: A Statewide QI Initiative

“…Acceptance of and distribution of formula company promotions is associated with lower breastfeeding rates, 23 and lack of exposure to step 6 negatively affects a woman's ability to meet her personal goals for exclusive breastfeeding. 12,24 We found that nonmedically indicated formula supplementation in healthy breastfed newborns remains a widespread concern in New Hampshire, despite all other positive indicators. Although the reasons for this are complex, including public misperceptions about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, we encourage all New Hampshire hospitals to remove all forms of formula advertising in their perinatal facilities.…”

Breastfeeding and the U.S. Economy

“…21 An analysis of the cost of giving birth showed that births at Baby-Friendly facilities cost an average of $35 (2007 dollars) more than at non-Baby-Friendly facilities. 22 The most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that only 3.78% of all births occur in Baby-Friendly facilities. 23 We calculated the costs of going from 3.78% to 90% of all births, using the number of births in 2007 and multiplied by the above cost adjusted for medical inflation to 2010 dollars.…”