Breastfeeding Awareness and Empowerment (BAE): A Black Women-Led Approach to Promoting a Multigenerational Culture of Health

Rebecca Duncan, Jabina Coleman, Sharon Herring, Meg Kawan, Christy Santoro, Meghana Atre, Aleigha Mason, Shawana Moore and Aparna Kumar
Additional contact information
Rebecca Duncan: Breastfeeding Awareness and Empowerment (BAE), Philadelphia, PA 19132, USA
Jabina Coleman: Breastfeeding Awareness and Empowerment (BAE), Philadelphia, PA 19132, USA
Sharon Herring: Obstetrics and Reproductive Sciences, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Meg Kawan: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Karabots Center, Philadelphia, PA 19139, USA
Christy Santoro: Obstetrics and Reproductive Sciences, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, USA
Meghana Atre: Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
Aleigha Mason: School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Shawana Moore: College of Nursing, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
Aparna Kumar: College of Nursing, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA

Societies, 2022, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: (1) Background: Critical gaps in the U.S. healthcare system perpetuate adverse reproductive health outcomes for Black people. Grounded in reproductive justice and trauma-informed care, Breastfeeding Awareness and Empowerment (BAE) has developed a program titled BAE Cafe to directly address these gaps by providing community-based lactation and perinatal mental health support. A literature review identified key programmatic gaps, namely, access to knowledge relevant to troubleshooting breastfeeding, peer support, community support and healthcare system support, and system-level factors that impede families and communities from accessing lactation support. (2) Methods: This paper describes BAE Cafe through a group process observation and participant survey. (3) Results: The observation of groups highlighted the core elements of the BAE Cafe model: knowledge, support and mental health support in a peer driven format. Participant survey feedback was overwhelmingly positive and highlighted the critical importance of lactation support for Black women by Black women and BAE’s role in participants’ decisions to continue breastfeeding. (4) Conclusions: BAE Cafe is a replicable, scalable, peer-driven and low-barrier intervention that has the potential to improve outcomes for Black families. Additional research and investment are now needed to assess large-scale implementation to reduce disparities and address health inequity across different contexts and settings.

Keywords: lactation; breastfeeding; perinatal mental health; reproductive justice; trauma-informed care; strength-based; community-based; black maternal health; health equity; disparities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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