Addressing breastfeeding disparities for African American mothers
A new study to help identify the best strategies and practices to improve breastfeeding in the African American community leverages the opinions, knowledge, and experiences of subject matter exerts (SMEs) with national and international exposure to policies and practices influencing African American breastfeeding initiation rates. The insight from the SMEs was compared to focus group data with African American mothers who identified facilitators and barriers of breastfeeding initiation. Although the rate of breastfeeding initiation in the United States has continued to rise since 1972, African American mothers continue to experience a significant disparity in initiation.