SHIFTING THE GAZE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN INFANT FEEDING TO A PSYCHOLOGICAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIO-HISTORICAL LENS

Despite efforts to address the disproportionately low rates of breastfeeding among African American women, disparities continue to exist. There is a consensus that breastfeeding has widespread health benefits for infants, mothers, and society. But socio-historical factors unique to African Americans have been largely overlooked. These are events, experiences, and other phenomena that have been culturally, socially, and generationally passed down and integrated into families, potentially influencing breastfeeding beliefs and behaviors. The goals of this study are to describe cultural factors influencing African American mothers’ perceptions of infant-feeding decisions and to identify possible connections between these socio-historical factors and African American infant-feeding outcomes. I conducted six focus groups, three breastfeeding groups and three formula-feeding groups, in May 2015 through September 2015. The groups were constructed using a purposeful sampling of African American mothers stratified by age—18–29, 30–50, and 51+. I used MAXQDA computer software to conduct a qualitative thematic analysis on the findings. This study’s findings suggest that an examination of the socio-historical factors of breastfeeding disparities may illuminate key areas that can be targeted for the development of culturally sensitive interventions to improve African American breastfeeding outcomes.Doctor of Philosoph