Nursing Moms Need Support

 

Citing “a gaping racial disparity” to explain why more White women initiate breastfeeding (75%) than Black women (59%), organizers of Black Breastfeeding Week list five reasons why the celebration, held every year during the last week of August, is so important:

1. The high black infant mortality rate: Black babies are dying at twice the rate (in some place, nearly triple) the rate of white babies. This is a fact. The high infant mortality rate among black infants is mostly to their being disproportionately born too small, too sick or too soon. These babies need the immunities and nutritional benefit of breast milk the most. According to the CDC, increased breastfeeding among black women could decrease infant mortality rates by as much as 50%.

2. High rates of diet-related disease: When you look at all the health conditions that breast milk—as the most complete “first food,” has been proven to reduce the risks of—African American children have them the most. From upper respiratory infections and Type II diabetes to asthma, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and childhood obesity—these issues are rampant in our communities. And breast milk is the best preventative medicine nature provides.

3. Lack of diversity in lactation field: Not only are there blatant racial disparities in breastfeeding rates, there is a blatant disparity in breastfeeding leadership as well. It is not debatable that breastfeeding advocacy is white female-led. This is a problem. For one, it unfortunately perpetuates the common misconception that black women don’t breastfeed. It also means that many of the lactation professionals, though well-intentioned, are not culturally competent, sensitive or relevant enough to properly deal with African American moms.

4. Unique cultural barriers among black women: While many of the “booby traps” to breastfeeding are universal, Black women also have unique cultural barriers and a complex history connected to breastfeeding.

5. Desert-Like Conditions in Our Communities: Many African American communities are “first food deserts” […] where women cannot access support for the best first food-breast milk.

 

Dr. Amaka Nnamani is a mom who knows how hard it can be to breastfeed a newborn infant successfully in this country, especially for Black mothers. Dr. Nnamani is also a pediatrician and the breastfeeding coordinator for the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics:

I learned firsthand how difficult it can be to continue breastfeeding after returning to work. I was a first-year resident when I had my first baby, and I did not know my rights as a breastfeeding mom. There was no lactation room at the time in my residency program, so I had to scout for rooms to express milk. I was often scared to ask to go pump (even though I was in a pediatrics residency program) and felt that I had to overcompensate for my absences.

 

Demographics partially explain why new Black mothers aren’t getting enough lactation support from hospital staff after delivery:

Forty-five percent of Baby-Friendly hospitals — those that have adopted a set of policies to ensure that their facilities are supportive of breastfeeding — are concentrated in cities in which Black people make up 3 percent or less of the population, the ACLU reported in 2019. Hospitals in communities with an above-average Black population are less likely to promote nursing than hospitals in other neighborhoods, the civil liberties group says.

 

The lack of culturally sensitive breastfeeding support often squelches new moms’ enthusiasm to start and then continue breastfeeding for the first two years of a young child’s life (read about the AAP’s newly updated guidance for breastfeeding here):

Statistics show that the rates of breastfeeding initiation and duration for Black women continue to lag those of all other races/ethnicities. There are several factors that contribute to this, including the history of slavery in this country, implicit bias, lack of knowledge and not having enough role models in the Black community.

 

Dr. Brian Donnelly (AHN Pediatrics Northland) examined the health consequences associated with damaging bias the last time The PediaBlog celebrated Black Breastfeeding Week in 2021:

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.

 

Read more of Dr. Amaka Nnamani’s experience as a Black pediatrician desperate to successfully breastfeed her newborn daughter here.

 

source http://www.thepediablog.com/2022/08/29/nursing-moms-need-support/