Monthly and Quarterly Breastfeeding Rates

Breastfeeding initiation and continuation at 2 months for infants enrolled in Minnesota WIC within 60 days of birth.

On this page:
Monthly
Quarterly by Location
Quarterly by Cultural Identity
Formula Given in Hospital
Data Tables

The Minnesota WIC Program provides breastfeeding support to parents across Minnesota and encourages families with infants to turn to WIC for help.

Monthly

Minnesota WIC began tracking monthly breastfeeding rates in 2020 to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on breastfeeding.

Key dates:

• March 2020: COVID lockdowns
• February 2022: Formula manufacturer shutdown
• Breastfeeding initiation declined and early weaning increased in 2020 and 2021. Changes in hospital and clinic services in response to COVID-19 created new challenges to initiating and sustaining breastfeeding. This included reduced labor and lactation support in the hospital, early discharge (within 24 hours of birth), and fewer resources post-discharge.
• Medical professionals strongly support breastfeeding during crises to provide optimal nutrition and protective immune factors found in human milk.
• Breastfeeding initiation spiked early in 2022, peaking in June. Formula shortages, including specialty formulas for infants with medical need, may have fueled this increase. Since then, rates have decreased but remain slightly higher than before the shortage, similar to pre-pandemic levels.

Quarterly by Location

Quarterly by Cultural Identity

Some cultural groups fared better and some struggled more with the challenges faced by new families in the past few years.

• American Indian initiation rates have improved but remain lower than White and East African rates.
• Black initiation rates are markedly higher in 2024, rising from 71.1% in third quarter 2019 to 82.5% in the quarter in 2024.
• As of first quarter 2024, Asian rates are below pre-pandemic levels, while Hmong participants' rates have remained stable but low.
• East African rates remain high, but have slipped from 97.0% in 2019 to 95.2% in early 2024.
• Hispanic rates are also high and remain stable.
• White rates have improved somewhat. 81.3% in 2019, the rate among WIC participants dipped below 79% in 2021 and recovered to 82.5% in 2024.
• In-hospital formula feeding dropped in the pandemic’s first weeks, then spiked later in 2020. Rates gradually declined to a low of 59.2% in second quarter 2022 and have been rising since, hovering around 60 to 63% in recent quarters.

Formula Given in Hospital

The percentage of infants receiving formula during their hospital stay initially declined in March 2020, despite an increase in the number of fully formula-fed infants. Hospitals discharged many families early during the first part of the pandemic. Most supplementation occurs on the second day; babies become more alert and seem to want to nurse “non-stop.” This can cause concerns about milk supply and lead to unnecessary use of formula, especially when lactation support is not available. Supplementation rates declined in the second quarter of 2022, as initiation rates increased, likely because of the wide-spread formula shortages, but since then have shown a concerning increase, to over 66% in early 2024. Rates vary widely by race and ethnicity, with the highest (Hmong) supplementation over 90% while the lowest (White) has ranged from 38 to 46%.

Data Tables

Downloadable file of WIC quarterly breastfeeding exclusivity data (csv)

Downloadable file of WIC quarterly breastfeeding by county data (csv)

Downloadable file of WIC monthly breastfeeding by cultural identity data (csv)

For more information, please e-mail health.WIC@state.mn.us.