Turning Research Into Action
New Haven Community Readiness Assessment on Breastfeeding
In 2020 and 2021, the Task Force carried out a Community Readiness Assessment on breastfeeding. This assessment had two goals: (1) to assess how ready New Haven residents, leaders, and resources were to support people who breastfeed and (2) to identify relevant programs or policy changes to improve the city’s readiness to support breastfeeding.
Based on conversations with 23 key respondents from five different community sectors, New Haven was scored in the “Preplanning” stage of Community Readiness. This means that there is an understanding that something must be done to address breastfeeding, but there are not yet any focused or detailed efforts to effect change.
Because this stage is also a great stage at which to take action, the Task Force set forth to understand barriers and facilitators to breastfeeding specific to the Black and Latinx populations we work to serve.
What are some barriers and facilitators to breastfeeding among Black women?
The Task Force partnered with New Haven Health Start, WIC, CARE, and the Community Advisory Board to hold focus groups with 22 Black or African American women from the Greater New Haven area.
Major barriers to breastfeeding included a lack of knowledge of breastfeeding-friendly laws, unhelpful lactation support, and formula feeding being viewed as the cultural norm.
Major facilitators to breastfeeding included access to breastfeeding-friendly workplace policies; support from doulas, Certified Lactation Counselors, peer counselors, partners, and families; and breastfeeding being viewed as the cultural norm.
Because of these important findings, the Task Force sought to further understand the scope of support systems, barriers, and facilitators to breastfeeding care among Black fathers and Latina mothers.
What are Black fathers’ experiences supporting breastfeeding?
The Task Force partnered with Real Dads Forever, New Haven Healthy Start, and CARE to conduct focus groups with 30 Black or African American men who had children who were ever breastfed. Conversation topics included knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding, their assumed role in breastfeeding, and support and decision-making around breastfeeding.
Major barriers to fathers’ breastfeeding support included stigma against breastfeeding in public; family discouragement from breastfeeding; and low breastfeeding knowledge or preparation.
Major facilitators to fathers’ breastfeeding support included breastfeeding being visible in media, breastfeeding-friendly workplace policies, and including fathers in breastfeeding education. These findings were presented to the Task Force for next steps.
What are Latina women’s experiences with breastfeeding care in a hospital?
The Task Force conducted in-depth interviews with 21 Latina women in Greater New Haven who have breastfed their infants.
While women reported wanting to learn about breastfeeding before birth and valuing quality time with their providers, prenatal visits often felt rushed, and little to no breastfeeding information was provided.
Women also highlighted the importance of providers being attentive to their breastfeeding needs and engaging in breastfeeding conversations both during prenatal care and after hospital discharge.
Recommendations for improvements in breastfeeding care ranged from the provider level (building trusting patient-provider relationships) to the systems level (longer prenatal visits, as well as increasing the number of culturally-responsive providers who speak Spanish and look like the patients they are serving). These findings were presented to the Task Force for next steps.
These studies will guide the Task Force in understanding how to best support individuals who breast/chestfeed in New Haven.
“I had an office that I could just go in and pump during the day. And I think having those spaces made it a lot easier for me. ”
“Being home for three months really helps being able to figure it [breastfeeding] out rather than worrying about pumping so that when you do go [back to work]... that does help.”
“My advice for other fathers… be encouraging, be helpful, especially in the emotional side of things.”