Celebrating Black Breastfeeding Week: A Commitment to Health, Empowerment, and Equity

Our Trust recognises the importance of supporting and celebrating Black Breastfeeding Week, an awareness week held annually from August 25-31. The week is dedicated to addressing the unique challenges that black mothers face in breastfeeding, whilst promoting the benefits of breastfeeding for both mother and child.

Black Breastfeeding Week was established in 2013 and highlights the critical role that breastfeeding plays in improving health outcomes for black infants and mothers and aims to close the racial gap in breastfeeding rates.

Breastfeeding offers numerous health benefits, including reduced risks of infections, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and chronic conditions such as asthma and obesity for infants. For mothers, it lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancers, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and postpartum depression. Despite these benefits, black women face significant barriers to breastfeeding, resulting in lower breastfeeding rates compared to other racial and ethnic groups.

Some of the key challenges faced by black mothers include:

·       Lack of Support and Representation: Black mothers often do not see themselves represented in breastfeeding campaigns, healthcare providers, and lactation consultants; representation matters in encouraging breastfeeding and providing culturally competent care

·       Workplace Barriers: Many black women work in environments that are not supportive of breastfeeding, with limited access to lactation spaces and breaks

·       Historical Context: The legacy of slavery and medical mistrust impacts the perceptions and experiences of black women regarding breastfeeding and healthcare

·       Economic Inequities: Socioeconomic factors, including access to healthcare and breastfeeding support resources, significantly affect breastfeeding initiation and continuation

This year’s theme is ‘Listen Up! Reclaiming our narrative and centring stories for breastfeeding justice’. The theme recognises the power of narrative shift and amplifies story telling as a key catalyst for equality and justice in lactation.

We invite you to share your stories and experiences as our Trust’s 0-19 ISHPN/IPHN service, East Riding of Yorkshire Council Children Centres and York St Johns University team up to deliver a webinar on the 28^{th of} August 2024 between 1-2pm. We have invited a panel of black professionals from key health and education services who will facilitate the webinar, listen to your stories, and answer any questions you may have. The aim of the webinar is to give black women a voice and so that professionals can listen and begin to understand what is needed to address inequalities in breastfeeding support and services.

Book to attend the webinar here We Are Listening Tickets, Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 1:00 PM | Eventbrite

For more information, please contact:

·       ISPHN/IPHN Infant feeding leads 01482 689689 (ER) of Hull on 01482 259600

·       Children Centre – Contact your local Riding Children’s Centres here: Find a Children's Centre (eastriding.gov.uk)

If you would like to know more about the breastfeeding support in your area, please click here East Yorkshire Breastfeeding Support | Humber ISPHN