Who Cares if Black Women Breastfeed or Not?

This is blog/ website is a support page for all the mothers who choose to breastfeed their babies because in this world where somehow formula has become the normal way for feeding a baby, breast feeders are lost and unsure what to do. While this page can be used to gain knowledge for all mothers, it is dedicated to black mothers.

Why are black mothers so important? I’m not biased because of my own race of course but there is some disparity here that needs to come to light that many do not talk about or even care about. Some still do not know that there is a problem. So why is it important? Because:

The national average of breastfeeding initiation is 75% but only 59% of black mothers are initiated breastfeeding in the hospital. This is on the upswing but it is still low compared to the 75% of white women that breastfeed and the 80% of Hispanics. By 6 months postpartum only 21.9% mothers are breastfeeding and by 1 year only 12.5 % compared to the 23% average.

Black infants are 2.5 times as likely to die compared to their white counterparts and some of these deaths could have been prevented had the mother been breastfeeding.

This blog/website is all a support page to support positive birth outcomes for all mothers but especially black mothers. There is more disparity here and I think it needs to be talked about more. Positive birth outcomes for black mothers are important because:

1/3 babies born in the Unites States will be born via cesarean section (c-section) this is incredibly high but even more alarming is that among black women their rate is 34%. Higher than the national average! Black women are more likely to birth a baby with low birth weight (13.6%) and black women are 3 times more likely to suffer maternal death compared to white women. This should not be happening in a country where there are so many advancements…..

I am not sure how we in the United States got this far BUT I do think if we come together we can create a change.

So here I am. I plan to educate via posting up-to-date information on birth and breastfeeding in hopes that I reach lots of mothers on their parenting journeys and some health workers to make their journeys easier. I plan to blog about my journeys and how I got to be where I am. I plan to post (with permission of course) other mother's birth stories and breastfeeding journeys to help encourage more mothers to speak up, feel empowered, offer some healing and love, and hopefully aid in bringing these numbers down so that all the babies can be fed they way they expect and so that mothers can have better birth out comes.

I am Dominique Gallo and I am Chocolate Milk Kisses ;)


Citation: Center for Diases Control and Prevention , Child Health USA