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The Root Behind Black Breastfeeding Reluctance
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
As a black breastfeeding advocate I perpetually ask myself why there remains such a stark contrast between black mothers who opt to breastfeed and white and Hispanic mothers who breastfeed. Low breastfeeding rates among blacks, I've surmised, is largely due to our role as wet nurses during slavery. As black women slaves, we were used to reproduce more slaves for our owners, but we were never allowed (except probably on the rarest occasion) to nurse our own children. In fact, infants were often separated from their mothers soon after birth to be reared under another master or to be raised under the charge of a single slave woman who nursed all the infants. As slave women, we were forced to nurse the master's children and for that reason alone, I believe breastfeeding has suffered amongst blacks in America and we see the residual effects to this day.
To be sure, a people's history is vitally important to shaping the current norms in society and culture. Therefore, the vast majority of black mothers have yet to shake the "slave mentality" that has long been a thorn in our sides and choose to feed their children artificially rather than to feed them naturally.
I have always believed slavery to be the primary cause behind low black breastfeeding rates, but I now know it to be true based on a study I read yesterday from Pediatrics. In Racial/Ethnic Differences in Breastfeeding Initiation and Continuation in the United Kingdom and Comparison With Findings in the United States ( PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 5 November 2006, pp. e1428-e1435 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-0714), it was found that:
In the United Kingdom Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, black Caribbean, and black African mothers were more likely to initiate breastfeeding compared with white mothers.Conversely, however, black breastfeeding rates in America are the lowest amongst all demographics, which shows us that based on cultural norms alone, irrespective of slavery, black and African women breastfeed in larger numbers. Therefore, had it not been for slavery and our role as wet nurses, black American mothers would breastfeed in much larger numbers than are represented today. There is no way to know if black women in America would breastfeed in the largest numbers, but without question, the numbers would be measurably higher.
Labels: demographics
posted by Jennifer James @ 9:31 AM,
1 Comments:
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At March 13, 2007 1:31 PM,
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Black Caribbean mothers in england breast feed at a higher rate than whites. Black Caribbeans have a similar history of slavery to Black Americans. This calls into question your conclusion that Black Americans breast feed at lower rates than White Americans based on their history of slavery. It would be interesting to see comparisons of breased feeding rates based only on economic brackets in both countries and compare them.
