Human and Clinical Nutrition Commons^™

Breastfeeding: The Illusion Of Choice, Yeon Bai, Lauren Dinour

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Breastfeeding is frequently described as a woman's decision, yet this choice is often illusionary owing to suboptimal social and structural supports. Despite the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) that requires all qualifying employers to provide mothers “reasonable” break time and a private, non-bathroom space to express breast milk, the majority of women in the United States still do not have access to both accommodations.

The Problem

At least three issues may be influencing this suboptimal implementation at workplaces: 1) federal law does not address lactation space functionality and accessibility, 2) federal law only …

Implementing Pasteurized Donor Human Milk Programs In Level One And Two Nurseries: Policies, Barriers, And Successes, Rebecca Phipps Smeltzer

Honors Theses and Capstones

Pasteurized donor human milk (PDHM) as feeding supplementation has been shown to prevent and lower rates of gastrointestinal infection and increase exclusive human milk consumption (EHM) in critically-ill, low birthweight and premature infants. Policies/ procedures for the use of PDHM in “well” newborns and low birth weight newborns with non-life-threatening illness, level I and II nurseries, respectively, have not been established. The objective of this research is to gather and summarize policies/procedures and experiences from four hospitals in the northeast US that use PDHM in level I/II nurseries. Data was collected from interviews with hospital administrators and each hospital’s PDHM …

Influence Of Overweight, Obesity, Social Support, And Self-Efficacy On Breastfeeding Outcomes Among African-American Women, Elizabeth Hoo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Breastfeeding reduces morbidity and mortality among mothers and children, yet African-American women breastfeed at lower rates than women of other racial and ethnic groups do. Higher rates of overweight, obesity, and low socioeconomic status may be contributing factors in this population; however, limited research exists regarding the roles of maternal overweight and obesity on breastfeeding outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether social support and self-efficacy positively influence breastfeeding outcomes among overweight and obese African American women. Self-efficacy and social support theories provided the theoretical framework for the study. Research questions examined whether (a) maternal overweight and …