Awelewa Temitope, Murra Alexandra, Story William T
Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
Nutrients. 2025 Jun 24;17(13):2094. doi: 10.3390/nu17132094.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Despite high breastfeeding initiation rates nationwide, disparities in breastfeeding continuation among Black mothers remain a public health issue. The BreastFeed Iowa Black Immigrant Project aimed to improve breastfeeding rates among low-income Black immigrant mother-infant dyads in Johnson County, Iowa by exploring factors influencing breastfeeding retention and developing a framework for culturally sensitive breastfeeding interventions.
Using a descriptive cross-sectional study design, we employed a convergent, parallel mixed-methods approach to explore factors that influence breastfeeding duration among Black immigrant mothers with children 0-2 years old. Nine focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted on Zoom among 40 participants with a semi-structured guide on breastfeeding beliefs, experiences, and feeding practices. Additionally, a 22-item survey was administered to 33 participants.
Based on the survey, one out of five participants indicated that they were unable to breastfeed for as long as they had planned. The top five reasons why mothers stopped breastfeeding included having received formula from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children; being sick and having to take medicine; the baby was hungry too often; the baby was sick and could not breastfeed; and not producing enough milk. The top five themes that emerged from FGDs as barriers to breastfeeding included lack of lactation support, knowledge gaps on breastfeeding benefits, perception of inadequate milk supply, lack of comfort with breast milk expression, and work-related barriers.
The community needs assessment identified the elements needed to develop a culturally sensitive framework with targeted interventions to address breastfeeding barriers in the Black immigrant community.
背景/目的：尽管全国母乳喂养启动率很高，但黑人母亲在母乳喂养持续时间上的差异仍是一个公共卫生问题。爱荷华州母乳喂养黑人移民项目旨在通过探索影响母乳喂养持续情况的因素，并制定一个针对文化敏感的母乳喂养干预框架，来提高爱荷华州约翰逊县低收入黑人移民母婴二元组的母乳喂养率。
采用描述性横断面研究设计，我们采用了一种聚合、平行的混合方法来探索影响0至2岁子女的黑人移民母亲母乳喂养持续时间的因素。通过Zoom平台对40名参与者进行了9次焦点小组讨论（FGD），讨论采用了一份关于母乳喂养信念、经历和喂养习惯的半结构化指南。此外，还对33名参与者进行了一项包含22个条目的调查。
根据调查，五分之一的参与者表示他们无法按计划进行母乳喂养。母亲停止母乳喂养的前五个原因包括从妇女、婴儿和儿童补充营养计划中获得了配方奶粉；生病且必须服药；婴儿经常饥饿；婴儿生病无法母乳喂养；以及奶水不足。焦点小组讨论中出现的作为母乳喂养障碍的前五个主题包括缺乏泌乳支持、对母乳喂养益处的知识差距、认为奶水供应不足、对挤奶不自在以及与工作相关的障碍。
社区需求评估确定了制定一个针对文化敏感的框架所需的要素，该框架具有针对性的干预措施，以解决黑人移民社区的母乳喂养障碍。
