Title: Low breastfeeding rates in African American women: An exploration of intent to
breastfeed among African American mothers.
Background/objective: Breastfeeding is a public health requirement based on the documented short-term and long-term medical benefits for babies. Breastfeeding has medical, psychological, and financial benefits for mothers. Despite documented benefits and only a few contraindications to breastfeeding, disparity persists in the African American population. African Americans (AA) are considered an at-risk group for many of the acute and chronic conditions that are believed to be preventable or decrease by breastfeeding.
Objective: To assess breastfeeding intent in African America women enrolled in group prenatal care/centering and traditional prenatal care.
PICO: In AA women between the ages of 18 and 45 years receiving prenatal care in the city of Atlanta, how does group prenatal care compare to traditional one-to-one prenatal care, on rates of breastfeeding, post breastfeeding intervention?
Methods: Study participants in centering and the routine care groups were given a self-developed pre-survey followed by breastfeeding education/intervention class. The centering group received breastfeeding intervention in a group setting. The routine care group received breastfeeding intervention one to one. Both groups were given a post-survey after the breastfeeding intervention. The post-survey is limited to the same questions from the pre-survey.
Results: A total of 26 participants completed the breastfeeding intervention and post-survey. Eleven participants were from the centering group, and 15 participants form the routine care group. Participants in both groups showed increased learning; however, the participants in the centering group showed higher learning. An independent sample t-test was conducted to compare the mean scores for patients in centering and routine care. There was no significance difference in the mean scores for centering (M = 95.45, SD = 8.02) and routine care (M = 90, SD = 10; t(24) = -.332, p = .743, two-tailed).
Discussion: Based on the findings group prenatal is a promising tool to increase breastfeeding the AA women. Next step is implementing strategies to improve social support for breastfeeding for mothers not enrolled in centering or group prenatal care
