An evaluation of a breast-feeding education intervention among Spanish-speaking families.
This study assessed the impact of an educational breast-feeding intervention on the knowledge, attitudes and perceived ability to access breast-feeding resources among Spanish-speaking Latino families making breast-feeding decisions. Conducted in cooperation with the local office of The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), this university-based, multidisciplinary outreach and research project was held in a semirural part of Utah, where Latinos constitute the fastest and largest growing group of the population and have the lowest breast-feeding duration rates. The results suggested that teaching a lactation class in Spanish to Latino women significantly increased their willingness to breast-feed and empowered them by increasing their belief that they could breast-feed even if they work or attend school, that they would not have a problem with insufficient milk, and that they would not need to limit their diet to breast-feed. Additionally, the study indicated that Latino women are more likely to access health care services from agencies providing services in Spanish, regardless of their secondary fluency in English.
Roby
Jini L
JL
School of Social Work at Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA. jiniroby@byu.edu
Woodson
Karen S
KS
D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012947:Social Work; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014589:Utah