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.
The purpose of this study was to understand the reasons for low rates of breastfeeding and the maternal selection of infant-feeding methods in African-American mothers. Results indicated that mothers wanted to breastfeed for maternal reasons, for infant-related reasons, and because others advised them to breastfeed. Mothers did not want to breastfeed for lifestyle reasons, pain-related reasons, lactation process issues, and hypothetical medical reasons.
An Ohio Dept. of Health – Bureau of Nutrition Services WIC resource for participants on using Electronic Benefit Transfers (EBT) for purchasing WIC approved foods in Ohio.
An official list of approved WIC foods from the Ohio Dept. of Health – Bureau of Nutrition Services.
In the Mid-Ohio Valley Region of West Virginia, food insecure women in the West Virginia WIC program had a greater risk of depression, higher food pantry use, lower rates of reliable transportation to obtain food, and lower use of extra methods to obtain food such as hunting and fishing in comparison to their food secure counterparts in the WIC program. Women who did not participate in the West Virginia WIC FMNP program had lower produce intake related behaviors, including perceived control, enabling domain, and self-efficacy than those that did.
