Department of Behavioral and Social Science, Brown School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA.
Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity, Providence, USA.
Matern Child Health J. 2023 Oct;27(10):1726-1741. doi: 10.1007/s10995-023-03692-7. Epub 2023 Jun 22.
A growing gap in exclusive breastfeeding across racial/ethnic groups in the United States includes a very low proportion of African American/Black women, with only 17.4% breastfeeding exclusively in 2015. While many quantitative studies examine these disparities, few qualitative studies have examined the overall experience of breastfeeding for Black women.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the existing qualitative literature on experiences of African American/Black women who breastfeed to gain insight on barriers and facilitators unique to this population.
This scoping review included studies that had a focus on any qualitative study design. Evidence was identified by searching electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, and PsychINFO).
Thirteen papers met the inclusion criteria for this review. Each study was summarized and then analyzed for content to produce a synthesis. Seven themes that influence Black women's experience with breastfeeding were identified: influence of interpersonal relationship on intention to and sustained breastfeeding experiences, influence of institutional systems on initiating and sustaining infant feeding decision, influence of personal beliefs on breastfeeding decisions and experience, material barriers and facilitators to breastfeeding experience, traditional stigma of breastfeeding, historical stigma of breastfeeding influences feeding choice in Black women, and negative impacts of body image.
The breastfeeding experience for Black women is unique and poses additional areas for intervention based on cultural and historical stigma. Incorporating the identified factors into intervention design is key to creating more effective policies for improving breastfeeding rates in the Black women and closing the gap across racial/ethnic demographics in the United States. Still, more qualitative research with culturally relevant theories needs to be done to investigate the full scope and complexities of breastfeeding as a Black woman to develop messaging to encourage the behavior.
在美国，不同种族/族裔群体之间的纯母乳喂养率差距不断扩大，其中非裔/黑人女性的比例非常低，2015 年仅为 17.4%。尽管许多定量研究都在探讨这些差异，但很少有定性研究探讨过非裔美国女性母乳喂养的整体体验。
本研究旨在评估有关非裔/黑人女性母乳喂养经历的现有定性文献，以深入了解该人群特有的障碍和促进因素。
本范围综述纳入了专注于任何定性研究设计的研究。通过搜索电子数据库（PubMed、CINAHL 和 PsychINFO）来确定证据。
符合本综述纳入标准的有 13 篇论文。对每项研究进行了总结，然后进行内容分析以得出综合结论。确定了影响非裔美国女性母乳喂养体验的七个主题：人际关系对母乳喂养意愿和持续体验的影响、机构系统对启动和维持婴儿喂养决策的影响、个人信念对母乳喂养决策和体验的影响、母乳喂养体验的物质障碍和促进因素、母乳喂养的传统耻辱感、母乳喂养历史耻辱感对非裔美国女性喂养选择的影响，以及身体形象的负面影响。
非裔美国女性的母乳喂养体验是独特的，基于文化和历史耻辱感，还需要进一步干预。将确定的因素纳入干预设计是制定更有效的政策以提高美国非裔女性母乳喂养率并缩小不同种族/族裔群体之间差距的关键。然而，仍需要进行更多具有文化相关性理论的定性研究，以调查作为非裔女性母乳喂养的全貌和复杂性，从而制定鼓励这种行为的信息传递。
