Black Breastfeeding Week
Since 2011, August has been designated as National Breastfeeding Month. And for the last 9 years, the last week of August has been designated as Black Breastfeeding Week. From the Black Breastfeeding Week website:
“Black breastfeeding advocacy groups work tirelessly to reduce racial disparities in breastfeeding rates, to normalize Black breastfeeding, to combat negative stereotypes surrounding Black breastfeeding, to celebrate the joys of Black breastfeeding, and to elevate the voices of Black breastfeeding champions within the community.”
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Breastfeeding is associated with reduced risk for various infections, necrotizing enterocolitis, sudden infant death syndrome, type 1 diabetes, and obesity among infants, and with reduced risk for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer among mothers. Because Black populations are at increased risk for many of these health outcomes, lower rates of breastfeeding initiation among these groups are particularly concerning. Racial/ethnic disparities in meeting breastfeeding duration and exclusivity recommendations can contribute to high disease prevalence and increased associated costs. For example, a recent study estimated that 1.3 times the number of excess cases of maternal hypertension among Black mothers compared with White mothers, and 3.3 times the number of excess cases of necrotizing enterocolitis among Black infants compared with White infants, can be attributed to lower rates of breastfeeding exclusivity and duration.
For me, the biggest reason to support this effort is the shockingly high infant mortality rate in Black babies. The rate is anywhere from 2 to 3 times higher (depending on the region) than the corresponding rate for White babies.
Some statistics from the CDC and AAP:
• The percentage of White babies who initiate breastfeeding is 87%, compared to 74% of Black babies.
• The percentage of White babies who receive breastmilk at 6 months old is 62%, compared to 48% of Black babies.
It isn’t clear why there is such a disparity. Some point to the historical baggage, harkening back to the days when Black slaves were forced to be wet nurses for the plantation owner’s offspring. Some point to the lack of Black lactation consultants, and the lack of Black doctors and nurses to offer better support.
However, I found a potential source of better answers in a recent editorial from the Journal of Human Lactation. In “Being a Black Breastfeeding Researcher in a White Research World: Speaking with One Voice,” three researchers express their frustration about Black researchers who have experienced a lack of recognition, inequitable support, and even outright dismissal of their ideas:
[I]t is time to think creatively and get everyone involved to see a different outcome, which is to decrease health disparities in all communities.
Amen to that!
Whatever the cultural or psychological barriers are, we need to overcome them as well as Sheila McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammed conquered the 440 meter hurdles in the Tokyo Olympics earlier this month.
source http://www.thepediablog.com/2021/08/25/black-breastfeeding-week/
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