Data Story
Breastfeeding data
Find rates, trends, and disparities about breastfeeding in San Francisco.
Department of Public HealthAbout breastfeeding
It is a national priority for 42 percent of infants to be exclusively breastfed for 6 months. For infants, exclusive breastfeeding lowers risk of infection, gastrointestinal issues, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and childhood obesity. Exclusive breastfeeding decreases the mother's risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and specific cancers like breast and ovarian cancer.
Latest breastfeeding data summary
San Francisco does not meet the national Healthy People 2030 target for exclusive breastfeeding. The scorecard below summarizes the latest available, county-specific data. Rates of exclusive breastfeeding drop sharply in the first week after giving birth.
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Data notes and sources
The latest available data for all data sources and time points is 2020-2022. Data sources include: California Department of Public Health (CDPH), Maternal Infant Health Assessment MIHA) Survey, CDPH Newborn Screening Program Breastfeeding Initiation Data, and San Francisco Women's Infants and Children (WIC) Program Data.
Data from the Zuckerburg San Francisco General (ZSFG) Hospital and SF WIC program reflect breastfeeding rates for groups with low income. Approximately 95 percent of births at ZSFG have public health insurance coverage. Individuals with an income below 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) qualify for Medi-Cal insurance. Individuals with an income below 185% FPL qualify for the WIC program.
To see a larger version of the scorecard, click the little arrow at the bottom left of the figure to open the scorecard in a larger window.
Rates and trends
In San Francisco, over the past 10 years, rates of exclusive breastfeeding increased.
Rates of exclusive breastfeeding initiation at the hospital increased significantly, particularly for infants born with low birthweight.
Rates of exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months doubled for WIC participants.
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Click the blue 'reset selections' button to reset the filter and see all available data. To select more than one time period, population group, or sub-category, hold down the 'Ctrl' button on your keyboard while you click to select the options. Click the orange 'confidence intervals' button to go to the next page to see a table of rates with confidence intervals. Confidence intervals from different time periods differ significantly if their confidence intervals do not overlap.
Disparities
San Francisco has breastfeeding disparities by income.
The disparity by income narrowed over the past 10 years, but the rate of any breastfeeding remains significantly lower for people with income below the Federal Poverty Level.
Statistically significant breastfeeding disparities by race-ethnicity are no longer statistically significant.
Click the blue 'reset selections' button to reset the filter options. Click the orange 'confidence intervals' button to see the confidence intervals. Confidence intervals that do not overlap are significantly different.
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Breastfeeding policy and intervention
Under San Francisco's Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance, local employers must accommodate nursing employees.
Local policies in the child care setting support breastfeeding.
The San Francisco Breastfeeding Coalition and UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi) partners identified breastfeeding strengths, resources, and needs of the community.
Data notes
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Data notes and sources
Data limitations:
Data are only shown if at least 20 cases happened in the dataset for the selected group and time period. Rates based on small numbers, less than 20, are statistically unreliable and have wide confidence intervals.
The specific definition of each breastfeeding condition depends on the data source, population group and/or time period. Results may differ across data sources, population groups and/or time periods because of different definitions.
There is always chance of administrative mistakes in data. To explain or use the data, consider possible sources of error in the definition, record keeping, and/or analysis.
Disclaimer: The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the City and County of San Francisco; nor does mention of the San Francisco Department of Public Health imply its endorsement.