title: Breastfeeding support for African-American women in Louisiana hospitals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study determined the variation in hospital breastfeeding support for African-American women in Louisiana.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the 2007-2008 Louisiana Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (n=2,534) were used to determine the odds of African-American women's hospital experiences with breastfeeding-related services following delivery relative to women of all other races. SAS-callable SUDDAN software was used for analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  African-American women were 60% less likely than women of other races to initiate breastfeeding or pump milk (odds ratio=0.40, 95% confidence interval=0.31-0.52). Compared with women of other races, African-American mothers were less likely to receive breastfeeding instruction and support from healthcare professionals while in the hospital, including being less likely to receive phone numbers for support and less likely to have their baby remain in the hospital room with them. African-American mothers were also less likely to report that they breastfed while in-hospital or breastfed exclusively while in-hospital.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows significant racial differences in initiation of breastfeeding and hospital experiences following delivery in Louisiana.
authors: Department of Health Policy and Systems Management, Louisiana State University School of Public Health and Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130, USA. regee@lsuhsc.edu
authors: Rebekah E
authors: RE
authors: Gee
authors: Lauren D
authors: LD
authors: Zerbib
authors: Brian G
authors: BG
authors: Luckett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008145:Louisiana; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012944:Social Support