No Cost, Big Benefit 

Breastfeeding Promotes Health and Prevents Disease 

By Kauthar B. Umar, M.A.


Closing the Gap, Maternal Health • January/February 2004


New moms can keep their money in their pockets. Without 

spending a dime, mothers can improve their baby’s health, 

and their own, by taking advantage of the one thing that 

can not be bought off the shelf—breast milk. 

“When a mother breastfeeds, it strengthens the bond between 

her and her baby,” said Carol Huotari, manager of the Center for 

Breastfeeding Information at La Leche League International. “There 

are benefits for the child, and there are benefits for the mother.” 

As long as women across the country continue to neglect 

breastfeeding, they are placing themselves and their babies at-risk, 

experts say. That’s why all women, and minorities in particular, are 

being encouraged to exchange rubber nipples for the real thing. 

According to the United Nations Special Session on Children 

and the World Health Organization (WHO), breastfeeding is the 

most cost-effective way to promote health and prevent disease. Research shows that breastfeeding, for the mom, leads to an earlier 

return to pre-pregnancy weight, decreases postpartum bleeding, and 

possibly reduces the risk of ovarian cancer. Among American Indians, 

the incidence of obesity, which contributes to high rates of type 1 

and 2 diabetes, has decreased when breastfeeding among new mothers has increased, according to Sue Murphy, breastfeeding program 

coordinator at the Diabetes Center of Excellence at the Phoenix 

Indian Medical Center. 

The health benefits children receive from breast milk are equally 

promising. Breast milk enhances an infant’s cognitive development, 

neurodevelopment, immune system, and nutritional and mental 

health. 

Why Women Don’t Breastfeed 

Despite the benefits of breastfeeding, HHS studies show that 

too few women commit to exclusive breastfeeding, while many remain unaware of its importance. 

“I don’t think most women know about the benefits of 

breastfeeding for their children and for themselves,” said Dr. Suzanne 

G. Haynes, chairwoman of the HHS Subcommittee on Breastfeeding 

and senior science advisor to the Office of Women’s Health (OWH). 

“Still today, in developed countries like ours, breastfeeding is viewed 

as old fashioned.” 

Breastfeeding is least common among young, low-income ethnic minorities who work full time, according to a literature review by 

Cindy-Lee Dennis in the January/February 2002 issue of the “Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing.” Most lack 

proper support, decide to breastfeed during or late in their pregnancy, feel negatively about breastfeeding, and have low confidence 

in their ability to breastfeed. 

This holds true for many African American women. HHS statistics show that African Americans have the lowest rate of 

breastfeeding among all ethnic groups—only 45 percent during the early postpartum period, compared to 

68 percent of White women, who breastfeed most often. 

A NIH study conducted by Dr. Yvonne Bronner, director of the 

MPH/DrPH program at Morgan State University, found that lack of 

support from partners and families was a major deterrent to 

breastfeeding. As a result, breastfeeding has lost its importance in 

African American culture said Katherine M. Barber, executive director and founder of the African American Breastfeeding Alliance Inc. 

(AABA). 

“The shift in the family structure from two-parent to singleparent families, as well as infant formula companies and their ability 

to mass market to the African American community, has influenced 

this change,” Barber said. 

Such cultural trends continue to lure women away from 

breastfeeding. For many Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) 

women, breastfeeding is not popular in their countries of origin, so 

when they migrate to the United States they bring the bias with 

them. 

Exposure to bottle feeding in hospitals has also been highly 

influential, especially for new AAPI immigrants. 

“When the baby’s crying, the nurse will pop in the bottle and 

that gives mothers the wrong message,” said Madeline Ritchie, center 

director of the Chinatown Public Health Center in San Francisco. 

Language barriers and a lack of cultural competence among 

medical staff also affect a new mother’s choice to breastfeed exclusively. While Hispanic women often breastfeed initially, they tend to 

introduce formula into their babies’ diets early on, leading to early 

weaning, according to Dr. Lucia Kaiser, community nutrition specialist at the University of California, Davis, Department of Nutrition. 

Part of the problem, research conducted by the University of 

California, Berkeley indicates, is that Mexican Americans receive 

breastfeeding advice less often because they are frequently less educated, of lower socioeconomic status and unmarried. 

“Some of it simply has to do with how hospital staff delivers care 

and what kind of practices they have in the hospital that can support 

breastfeeding in that population,” Kaiser said. 

For American Indians, who tend to have positive cultural views 

about breastfeeding, the loss of traditional birthing practices has contributed to lower breastfeeding rates. 

“Anthropologic research on the Navajo Nation by Dr. Anne L. 

Wright, associate director of the Arizona Respiratory Sciences Center 

at the University of Arizona Medical Center, suggested that the loss 

of the traditional ‘women helping women’ in childbirth has contributed to the loss of the art of breastfeeding among Native Americans,” 

Phoenix Indian Medical Center’s (PIMC) Murphy said. “In the general population, this traditional circular nurturing is described as 

‘mothering the mother so that she can mother her baby.’” 

continued on page 2>>>> 

Office of Minority Health Resource Center 1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
No Cost, Big Benefit 

Breastfeeding Promotes Health and Prevents Disease 

By Kauthar B. Umar, M.A.


Closing the Gap, Maternal Health • January/February 2004


Breaking Down Barriers 

In an attempt to eliminate barriers to breastfeeding, OWH and 

various cultural organizations are working toward reaching the Healthy 

People 2010 national health objectives: increasing breastfeeding rates 

among all women to 75 percent in the early postpartum period, from 

29 percent to 50 percent at six months, and from 16 percent to 25 

percent at one year. To reach the goals, OWH developed the, “Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding,” an action plan and a comprehensive breastfeeding policy for the nation. 

Because the decision to breastfeed is usually made within the 

first three months of pregnancy, the Blueprint focuses on education 

for women, their partners and other significant family members during both the prenatal and postnatal visits. 

The Blueprint also calls for culturally appropriate strategies to 

promote breastfeeding and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities. 

Toward that end, programs are being developed to give mothers 

access to comprehensive, up-to-date and culturally specific lactation 

services. 

In partnership with the Alliance, HHS developed interventions 

to educate African American mothers about breastfeeding. The interventions include teaching moms the importance of pumping and 

freezing breast milk to promote spousal involvement in feeding and 

strategies to help mothers transition back to work. AABA also provides intervention, support groups, home and hospital visits and 

breastfeeding classes for and by African American women. 

“Because our information is coming from African Americans, it 

tends to help,” Barber said. “Whether it’s a poor community or an 

affluent one, peer counselors that Black women can relate to, that can 

teach them about breastfeeding one-on-one, tend to make a big 

difference.” 

Efforts to increase rates among American Indians have focused 

on culturally sensitive promotional material. Together with various 

tribal communities, PIMC and NIH created “An Easy Guide to 

Breastfeeding for American Indians and Alaska Natives.” 

“We hope that our intervention’s progress is a reflection of providing readily available, consistent and reliable information,” said 

PIMC’s Murphy. 

Though breastfeeding has been ignored for far too long, it is 

finally reaching more women, according to Haynes. 

“You have to educate every generation as they come along,” she 

said. “We’ve got to make this a cool thing to do.”

Office of Minority Health Resource Center 2 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services