Monitoring regional rates of breastfeeding in Italy : the case of Lombardia

Background: during the last years many Italian regions have been promoting breast feeding through various initiatives, according to WHO indications. Aim: to assess rates of initiation and duration of breast feeding in Lombardia in 2006, to evaluate the efficacy of the interventions in order to implement proportion strategies. Conclusions: in Lombardia region prevalence of breast feeding is quite satisfactory and prevalence of exclusive breast feeding at 48 h is currently higher than the national prevalence in 2000. Different policies at the maternity wards, more consistent with WHO indications, may be plausible explanation of these findings.