While breastfeeding rates among low-income women are rising (39% (1992) to 59% (2002)) they remain well below the average US rate (70%). Significant barriers remain despite HHS's national breastfeeding strategy and CDC program recommendations to eliminate economic, ethnic, and education-based disparities in breastfeeding initiation and duration. A woman's infant feeding decision is a complex product of personal, family, health care provider, community, and societal influences. These influences, particularly for low- income women, are inconsistent and often competing. Societal messages about female sexuality, community norms about infant feeding, commercial promotion of breastfeeding substitutes, friends'and families'stories about breastfeeding all interact (and potentially conflict) with advice from health care professionals and breastfeeding promotion programs. Health care providers themselves are susceptible to the social and institutional environment and societal norms that affect both what message they chose to deliver and how they deliver it. Breastfeeding promotion programs are often generic - designed absent input from the target population, they may be culturally inappropriate and therefore ineffective. If efforts to improve breastfeeding initiation and duration are to succeed, they must address the interrelation of personal and community influences on breastfeeding patterns. Effectively addressing these interrelationships, while beyond the scope of a single program, is well suited for interventions designed and evaluated through a community based participatory research approach. To increase BF initiation, duration, and exclusivity among minority and low-income women this project will use an ecological approach to: 1) Establish the Community Partnership for Breastfeeding that will include health and human service providers, researchers, and members/leaders from the local community (representing low income neighborhoods, childbearing women, ethnic minorities). The CPB will: a) promote participation in research and interventions among minority and low income women;b) guide intervention design;c) evaluate intervention deployment;and d) interpret findings. 2) Conduct additional formative research (qualitative and quantitative) to understand the common and conflicting provider and community influences on breastfeeding among minority and low-income women. 3) Develop and deploy interventions targeted at both providers and consumers under the guidance of the CPB and based on the formative research findings. 4) Expand the community's system of BF support through an interagency referral system and enhanced peer counseling resources and through efforts to gain """"""""Baby Friendly Hospital"""""""" designation for all local hospitals. 5) Analyze changes in breastfeeding attitudes, experience with breastfeeding promotion and support and breastfeeding outcomes through conducting surveillance across the entire community.
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| Rosen-Carole, Casey; Allen, Katherine; Fagnano, Maria et al. (2018) Mothers' Concerns for Personal Safety and Privacy While Breastfeeding: An Unexplored Phenomenon. Breastfeed Med 13:181-188 |
| Dozier, Ann M; Brownell, Elizabeth A; Thevenet-Morrison, Kelly et al. (2018) Predicting Maintenance of Any Breastfeeding from Exclusive Breastfeeding Duration: A Replication Study. J Pediatr 203:197-203.e2 |
| Dozier, Ann M; Brownell, Elizabeth; Guido, Joseph et al. (2014) Adapting the pregnancy risk assessment monitoring survey to enhance locally available data: methods. Matern Child Health J 18:1196-204 |
| Korfmacher, Katrina Smith; Suter, Barbara J; Cai, Xueya et al. (2014) Environmental risks and children's health: what can PRAMS tell us? Matern Child Health J 18:1155-68 |
| Dozier, Ann M; Nelson, Alice; Brownell, Elizabeth A et al. (2014) Patterns of postpartum depot medroxyprogesterone administration among low-income mothers. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 23:224-30 |
| Dozier, Ann M; Howard, Cynthia R; Brownell, Elizabeth A et al. (2013) Labor epidural anesthesia, obstetric factors and breastfeeding cessation. Matern Child Health J 17:689-98 |
| Brownell, Elizabeth A; Fernandez, I Diana; Fisher, Susan G et al. (2013) The effect of immediate postpartum depot medroxyprogesterone on early breastfeeding cessation. Contraception 87:836-43 |
| Chin, Nancy P; Cuculick, Jessica; Starr, Matthew et al. (2013) Deaf mothers and breastfeeding: do unique features of deaf culture and language support breastfeeding success? J Hum Lact 29:564-71 |
| Dozier, Ann M; Nelson, Alice; Brownell, Elizabeth (2012) The Relationship between Life Stress and Breastfeeding Outcomes among Low-Income Mothers. Adv Prev Med 2012:902487 |
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