Apr 25 2023
14 - Doulas and Disparities in Breastfeeding during National Minority Health Month with Farah Antoine-Mayberry and Alexis Boryca
NMHM was founded by Booker T Washington in 1915 Booker T. Washington, to bring awareness to the health disparities caused by poor working and living conditions. You can find more information at minorityhealth.hhs.gov/nmhm. Today’s guests are Farah Antoine-Mayberry, Executive Director of For The Village, Inc and alexis boryca, a lactation consultant from COBA which stands for the Coalition of Oklahoma Breastfeeding Advocates. Welcome, please tell us about yourselves and your nonprofit organizations.National CDC Vital Statistics 2019Overall: 84% | Hispanic 88% | White 86% | Black 74% | Asian 90% | American/Alaskan Native 77%Oklahoma: Overall 82% | Hispanic 82% | White 85% | Black 72% | Asian 86% | American/Alaskan Native 75%Racism as a Disparity. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jmwh.13058 “Health care providers’ biased assumption that African American women would not breastfeed affected the quality of breastfeeding support provided to them. Specifically, African American women received fewer referrals for lactation support and more limited assistance when problems developed. This scoping review provides evidence that African American women experience racism, bias, and discrimination affecting breastfeeding care, support, and outcomes.” Colonization as a disparity. lllusa.org/a-closer-look-at-native-breastfeeding-week. Native Breastfeeding Week begins the second Sunday in August and was founded by Jasha Lyons Echo-Hawk a Doula and lactivist from Oklahoma. Native breastfeeding beyond infancy was shamed as a means to reduce native “resilience of culture and body sovereignty… and traditional parenting”. She says that “Lactation is my superpower, but it also seems to be treated like a privilege and not a sovereign right regardless of whether you’re Indigenous or not… Colonization and patriarchy have starved most of us physically, spiritually, and culturally. It started by starving off my ancestors so chest/breastfeeding relatives couldn’t provide the first food”.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mcn.13428 “Although wide disparities exist in engaging in breastfeeding, research has shown that intentionality to breastfeed does not vary significantly by race or ethnicity. In a study of 2070 women and children enrolled in the WIC program across 27 states, researchers found that 87.2% of non-Hispanic Black mothers had general breastfeeding intentions compared to 86.9% of non-Hispanic White mothers. These similarities in the rate of intent but disparities in the rate of engagement suggest that there are barriers unique to Black mothers that are affecting their ability to meet their breastfeeding intentions. One significant barrier is employment. Black women are over-represented in the service-sector industry, where labour protections are weaker. Thus, they have less access to adequate maternity leave or lactation breaks during the workday…. Black women are more likely to experience structural racism and systemic discrimination, contributing to higher levels of stress and posttraumatic stress disorder, which can lead to lower breastfeeding rates”.https://npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/02/11/801343800/from-breastfeeding-to-beyonc-skimmed-tells-a-new-story-about-black-motherhood From Breastfeeding To Beyoncé, 'Skimmed' Tells A New...
