Nova Scotia Perinatal Health Indicator	
Infants breastfed exclusively among those whose mothers intended to breastfeed; All Nova Scotia	
Data Source: Nova Scotia Atlee Perinatal Database	

Background: Breastfeeding is the optimal form of infant feeding. Breastfeeding provides both short-term and long-term benefits to the mother and the newborn. The current recommendation is for mothers to exclusively breastfeed their infants up to 6 months with continued breastfeeding up to two years and beyond. Supplementation with formula for term newborns of mothers who have chosen to breastfeed should only occur when medically indicated. There are few clinical situations where supplementation is required. Despite evidence of the detrimental effects of supplementation on establishing breastfeeding the exclusive breastfeeding rate in hospital, or during the first 3 days of life for infants born at home, remains at < 75% in Nova Scotia. In contrast, 89% of women in Canada initiated breastfeeding in 2011/12.1	

Fiscal Year	Exclusive breast milk	Breast milk with
supplements	No breast milk	
2006-07	65.00	26.73	7.88	
2007-08	64.67	27.54	7.62	
2008-09	64.65	27.77	7.40	
2009-10	64.76	28.96	5.97	
2010-11	69.15	24.49	5.90	
2011-12	67.88	24.28	7.37	
2012-13	73.00	19.96	6.74	
2013-14	73.60	19.29	6.52	
2014-15	72.98	20.45	6.36	

Indicator Definition: Proportion of infants who were fed breast milk exclusively during the birth admission, or in the first three days of life for infants born at home and not admitted to hospital in this time period, among infants whose mothers intended to breastfeed (Note:  Data collection for exclusivity began in 2006).	
	Numerator = infants who were fed breast milk exclusively during the birth admission, or in the first three days of	
	 life for infants born at home and not admitted to hospital in this time period,	
	Denominator = infants whose mothers intended to breastfeed	

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1 During pregnancy is defined as the time interval between the first prenatal visit and the time of admission for delivery/time of delivery	
2 To be consistent with the Breastfeeding Committee for Canada definition for exclusivity, the Nova Scotia Atlee Perinatal Database captures type of infant feeding, not method. Exclusive breast milk is defined as breast milk during the birth admission, or for the first three days after birth for infants born at home and not admitted to hospital in this time period.