Why We Need Black Breastfeeding Week

Aug 27

mother nurses toddler in bed after birth at home in Durham England

3 Incredibly Important Reasons We Need Black Breastfeeding Week

Sharing the facts and education for why the United States needs Black Breastfeeding Week and why we take time each year to celebrate August 25-31.

“The most recent CDC data show that 75% of white women have ever breastfed versus 58.9% of black women. The fact that racial disparity in the initiation and even bigger one for duration has lingered for so long is reason enough to take 7 days to focus on the issue...
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%. So when I say breastfeeding is a life or death matter, this is what I mean.”

- Kimberly Seals-Allers founder of #blackbreastfeedingweek and author of "The Big Let Down"

This year several countries around the world will be celebrating the 9th annual Black Breastfeeding Week. The founders of BBFWeek created this incredibly important awareness week “because for over 40 years there has been a gaping racial disparity in breastfeeding rates.” Having a separate and focused week is a vital action to bring awareness to the specific needs of Black mothers in our country, celebrate these mothers, advocate for more support for these families and educate the world about the issues facing Black mothers and Black babies around the world.

mother breastfeeds newborn in bed surrounded by curious older children after at home birth in Durham England

High Infant Mortality Rate

This really is the major reason for having a separate week dedicated to black mothers and babies. But awareness and education to the issues is only the first step for uncovering the biases and barriers facing black women that are leading to these mortality rates. Take a look at these facts and numbers. They paint a very clear picture of the huge lack of support Black mothers are receiving surrounding their health, birth care, and breastfeeding. And the failure not of these mothers but of the systems they are raising children in.

So here are the Facts and Numbers

Black mothers are 3-4 time more likely to die due to birth and postpartum complications.
Black babies suffer a mortality rate of more than double that of white children.
The United States has reported one of the lowest breastfeeding initiation rates amongst industrialized nations and it’s the ONLY developed country without laws that mandate paid parental leave. In the last 2 decades breastfeeding initiation rates have only inched up from 38-41%
75% of white women have ever breastfed versus 58.9% of black women.
“This gap has existed for as long as the government has collected data on breastfeeding rates. The gap only widens as a child grows older”- Says Lauran Santhanam with her PBS Article “Racial disparities persist for breastfeeding moms. Here’s why.”
Research suggests breastfed babies face a lower risk of developing ear, respiratory or digestive tract infections, asthma, obesity, and diabetes. “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.” says Seals-Allers

mother breastfeeds newborn in striped dress at home

mother looks out window while breastfeeding newborn at home in rocking chair

mother looks at newborn while breastfeeding at home in chair

Lack of diversity in the birth work field and lactation support field

This is SO important, when the fields that are meant to support and care for you don’t look like you or are not familiar with the unique needs of Black mothers then we are only adding to the problem. I love this story from Ashley green sharing about her experience breastfeeding and wading through systems that felt “looked nothing like” her,

“Besides me, the only other member of my family known to have breastfed was my great-grandmother, who did so only out of necessity in the rural South. The hospital lactation consultants and support groups I encountered consisted of women who looked nothing like me. I felt alone and sad that I couldn’t find myself within a community I desperately wanted to be a part of. The breastfeeding world became another place tarnished by misconceptions and generalizations.

I wonder how many Black mothers decide that breastfeeding isn’t for them because they don’t see themselves reflected in the lactation field. I also wonder about mothers from different races who might believe Black women don’t breastfeed because they don’t often see Black women in the lactation field. Other races and cultures need the voices and faces of Black women in breastfeeding as much as Black women themselves do.”

These words by co-founder Anayah Sangodele-Ayoka of #blackbreastfeeding week describe this very essential need for raising up Black lactation support and birth workers in our country. “What we really found was that for black women, in particular, peer support models tend to be a lot more effective when there’s a sort of affinity culturally, racially between people there tends to be better support for breastfeeding”

close up of mother breastfeeding newborn in hospital bed moments after birth, first latch, Durham England hospital

Historical and Cultural barriers among Black women

The History of Wet Nurses and Slavery

There is a long history surrounding black mothers and breastfeeding in the US. Not only were enslaved women forced to nurse white babies they also did this at the detriment of their own baby’s health. Seals Allers puts it this way, “During slavery, black women were forced to nurse white children instead of their own, and after the Civil War, that power dynamic continued with women of color working as wet nurses. Breastfeeding was not a choice but “something we were forced to do,” This history only creates a narrative around breastfeeding that is negative, filled with trauma from the loss of choice and control of their autonomy. This has impacted more than just mothers of the past but every generation that has come since. Stigmatizing something that could have been passed down generationally and be a source of support now but instead comes with its own baggage that each mother walks alone.

The Desert-Like conditions and Racially Bias Medical Systems

It’s not just history that affects the Black breastfeeding mother, but the actual systems that surround them that are meant to be supporting and educating them. “Unfortunately, many communities of color have ‘desert-like’ conditions when it comes to breastfeeding support and resources,” says Sears-Aller and I think this is a piece of the story many people overlook. It is not an equal opportunity system that breastfeeding mothers are living in. There is poor support all around the US for breastfeeding with initiation numbers being one of the lowest amongst industrialized countries. But for Black mothers, these barriers are statistically far harder to overcome for several reasons.

CDC Research has shown that many hospitals serving largely black populations are statistically less likely to offer nurse-to-patient support with breastfeeding or even suggest lactation support. Instead, they disproportionately offer formula first to black families.

CDC Research also cited that Black mothers are more likely than others to need to return to work earlier than 12 weeks, to have inflexible working hours or situations, and working in positions that make breaks for pumping or expressing milk incredibly difficult or impossible.

The CDC also says, “Policies that enable taking paid leave after giving birth, flexible work schedules, and support for breastfeeding or expressing milk at work might help improve breastfeeding intention, initiation, and duration,” and yet the US is the ONLY country that makes very little effort to mandate breastfeeding opportunities and in many ways been shown to stifle policies that enforce breastfeeding support due to the lucrative formula industry.

Laurence Grummer-Strawn of WHO describes these barriers this way “ Several conditions stifle faster growth in breastfeeding rates. These include hospital staff who are not trained to support breastfeeding or troubleshoot problems if they arise, conflicts of interests between health care providers and the infant formula industry, and lack of paid leave for new mothers.’ Paid maternity leave is often too short to allow mothers to stay with their babies long enough to establish a lasting breastfeeding routine.

We are failing our mothers through the medical systems that are set up to “help”

Targetted Marketing for Formula within Black Communities.

Representation matters and sadly the formula industry knows these same statistics. They know due to all of these factors that Black mothers are far more likely to choose formula so they target these communities heavily. “Aggressive and controversial formula advertising contributes to low breastfeeding rates and infant deaths, advocates say, which is of particular concern among low-income mothers with minimal education who don’t have access to clean water, as using contaminated water to mix formula can make babies sick. They are also more likely to dilute expensive formula to make it stretch to another meal, which can lead to malnutrition. Being illiterate is another risk factor, since formula comes with intricate instructions…

“I have a Ph.D. I teach maternal and child nutrition, and I still had trouble when I needed to use formula ― trying to figure out what’s the ratio of how much powder and how much water I use,” said Fernald, who’s a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. “You can imagine someone who doesn’t have access to those resources.”

These strategies by formula companies have an incredibly torrid history from targetting impoverished countries and using language that goes against the WHO marketting guidelines just to turn profit, Lucy Sullivan, executive director of the nonprofit 1,000 Days, says it this way ”[Our] goal wasn’t restricting access to baby formula, which many babies need to survive, but to reel in deceptive marketing practices that are particularly harmful to poor women.”

These problems are unique, targeted and meant to convince mothers that they “can’t” do it or choosing formula is just as good, Seals Allers sums up this cycle in this way, “ It is not fair to ask women, any woman, to breastfeed when she lives in a community that is devoid of support. It is a setup for failure.” And that in and of itself is the truth. Our country is failing women and especially black women but they are also failing babies! According to a 2016 report in the Lancet, a U.K. medical journal they wrote, “Ensuring that mothers who are able to breastfeed do so, is crucial. Bringing breastfeeding rates up to near-universal levels would prevent about 820,000 child deaths each year.”

mother stares off while holding toddler close to her chest sitting on bed

“From our complex history of black slaves being used as wet nurses for their slave master’s children to the lack of diversity in mainstream role models, even to the high infant mortality rate in black babies and how breastfeeding could protect them (black babies are twice as likely to die as white babies), there’s a different dialogue around breastfeeding when it comes to black culture.”

- quote by mom blogger Danyelle of Napturally Dany

We need black breastfeeding week!

We need support, we are failing mothers and families all over and this time is for bringing awareness to the realities and creating opportunities for advocation. Sangodele-Ayoka says this of why they created this week, “Ultimately the week is all about celebrating the act of breastfeeding and being able to “take a step back and just sort of fly the flag for black breastfeeding, fly the flag for all the people who are doing the work, fly the flag for the moms and say, ‘You are so great, you are so beautiful and what you do is important” This week is not meant to shame others but to bring awareness about these very specific needs of our Black mothers and babies.

The conversation is not over until mothers are supported and educated in breastfeeding at every birth. To learn more, join the cause, and donate please check out these amazing websites.