A CDC study published Thursday analyzed responses from nearly 2,700 birth facilities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The hospitals were found not to follow recommended measures, such as ensuring mother-to-newborn skin-to-skin contact, keeping the mother and child together and not giving extra formula or water to infants unless medically needed.
The results, published in Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR), a publication of the CDC, highlight the need to change practices nationwide, government researchers said.
Seven southern states - Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia - had the lowest percentages (less than 30 percent) of children who were breastfed for six months, according to the 2006 National Immunization Survey.
Western and New England states generally had higher scores compared to other parts of the country. Vermont and New Hampshire tied for the highest overall maternity practice scores (81 percent), followed by Maine (77 percent) and Oregon (74 percent). In addition, Oregon, Maine and Vermont reported that more than 75 percent of children were ever breastfed.
The authors found that nearly 30 percent of facilities supplemented breast milk with sugar water and 15 percent gave regular water. About one in four reported giving formula to breastfed newborns as a general practice more than half the time.
Babies should not be given extra formula or water unless medically needed and the practise is often not followed, the study said. Breast milk contains antibodies that protect newborns from infection and provides other health benefits, including helping lower asthma and obesity rates.
The government's target is to have 75 percent of new mothers begin breastfeeding and half continue for at least six months.
