National Breastfeeding Month wraps up this week with an important focus on health disparities and breastfeeding’s potential contribution to closing the gap in both maternal and infant outcomes.
Despite overall increases in breastfeeding rates for black and white infants over the last decade, racial disparities persist. Between 2011-2015 in Florida, 84% of white mothers initiated breastfeeding after delivery and 22% were still exclusively breastfeeding at six months. Among black mothers, 68% initiated breastfeeding and 18% were still exclusively breastfeeding when their babies reached six months of age (CDC MMR Weekly/July 14, 2017 / 66(27);723–727).
Find out why we need Black Breastfeeding Week and why it is imperative to promote and support breastfeeding by black mothers in a thought-provoking commentary by Kimberly Seals Allers, co-founder of the annual observance.