Yesterday marked the last day Black Breastfeeding Week 2016 and National Breastfeeding Month. Breastfeeding advocates everywhere used this month as an opportunity to highlight the work being done in the breastfeeding world and the progress being made, as well as the areas where we continue to fall short. So let’s take a quick look at how we’re doing:
- The number of babies being born in hospital with the “baby-Friendly” designation has increased from 7.8% in 2014 to 18.3% in 2016. Hospital with the “Babu Friendly” designation, actively promote breastfeeding through immediate skin-to-skin right after delivery whether by vaginal delivery of cesarean section (in some cases), having not only lactation specialists but also nurses on both the delivery floor and the postpartum floor educated about breastfeeding so they help new moms with latching and quickly identify babies who are having problems, babies room-in with mom, physicians are also trained to provide support and educate moms about the importance of breastfeeding, and finally formula is available only if it’s medically necessary.
- Breastfeeding initiation rates are now at a national average of 81.1% which is a 7% increase over the past 8 years. This increase persists at 6 and 12 months though those rates are much lower, 51.8% and 30.7% respectively.
- And though it is a struggle to breastfeed in public without being harassed, the public is becoming more aware and more accepting of breastfeeding in public.
So are we falling short:
- Black women are still not breastfeeding at the same rate as other women in this country. While the gap between black and white women breastfeeding rate has decreased from 24 to 16%, it remains elevated.
- We now so much more about the impact of breastfeeding on infant health and childhood obesity, yet the infant mortality rate and the childhood obesity rate remains high in the black community.
- In an article written by Kimberly Seals Allers in 2014, she highlights the reasons for a Black Breastfeeding Week, a celebration of black mothers breastfeeding so it can become the norm, not the exception: none of those reasons have changed.
We have to do better and we can do better! Although the celebration is over, the work continues to empower mothers everywhere, especially mothers of color to take better care of themselves, to breastfeed because it is a matter of life or death in some of our communities. Breastfeeding should be the norm and not the exception, however when women choose not to breastfeed, it should be an informed decision, not one due to lack of support from their community, their peers, and their providers.
