This study analyzed mothers reports of breastfeeding care experiences from pregnancy through infancy. The results showed that mothers often felt that the education and support they received was cursory and inadequate. Some mothers received misinformation or encountered practitioners who were hostile or indifferent to breastfeeding. Mothers were not often given referrals to available resources, even after reporting breastfeeding challenges.
This study explored the characteristics of positive deviants for breastfeeding among WIC-enrolled first-time mothers in Louisiana. researchers found that breastfeeding in the hospital after delivery and having received help with how to breastfeed in the hospital were significantly associated with breastfeeding initiation in white and black mothers. They also found that the black positive deviants were more likely to have initiated breastfeeding if their baby was low birth weight.
The objective of this study was to assess the costs of providing support to low-income women who breastfeed, compared with savings resulting from the intervention. The results showed that the support for breastfeeding that community health nurses and peer counselors provided was partially offset by the reduced need for medical care and formula feeding costs.
This critical review aimed to identify and assess US-based randomized trials, by evaluating breastfeeding interventions that targeted minorities. Peer counseling interventions, breastfeeding-specific clinic appointments, group prenatal education, and hospital/WIC enhancements all greatly improved breastfeeding initiation, duration, of exclusivity.
This study investigated barriers to breastfeeding faced by inner-city African-American women. The following themes emerged from focus groups: low self-esteem, low self-efficacy, fear of social isolation, formula as a cultural norm, worries about breastfeeding in public, challenging family relationships, negative postpartum hospital experiences, and lack of support after going home.
This study examines the association between acculturation and breastfeeding behaviors. Prevalence rates of breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusive breastfeeding for; 10 weeks or longer were significantly higher among less acculturated mothers, than among highly acculturated mothers.
This study investigated the effect of promoting breastfeeding in the WIC population through a telenovela, a Spanish-language soap opera. Immediate behavior change did not result, but the researchers reported engaging participants in conversations about breastfeeding with their health educator.
This study explored the associations between breastfeeding initiation and the availability of WIC-based breastfeeding support, as well as the racial and ethnic composition of WIC clients in North Carolina. The study found that breastfeeding initiation by site was negatively associated with the percentage of African-American clients and positively associated with percentage of white or Hispanic clients.
This study examines predictors of breastfeeding exclusivity in low-income women who received services from a Chicago-area WIC clinic. researchers found that women who received first-trimester prenatal care were more likely to exclusively breastfeed than were women who entered prenatal care in later trimesters. In addition, women who declared intentions prenatally to exclusively breastfeed were more likely to exclusively breastfeed than were women who did not intend to breastfeed. Furthermore, overweight/obese women were less likely to exclusively breastfeed than were normal/underweight women.
The purpose of this study was to explore how mothers of different races/ethnicities make decisions to continue exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for 6 months under the theory of planned behavior. Intentions to continue EBF for 6 months were similar across racial/ethnic groups. The intention to breastfeed was explained most by the three theoretical constructs: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control.
