Hi! My name is Kim; I am currently in nursing school at the University 
of North Dakota with OB as my area of concentration.  This semester I 
am taking a childbearing class which I found to be my favorite class!  
I have learned a lot from being apart of listserv the past couple weeks 
and have enjoyed being involved in a professional group.       
As health care professionals we understand the economic and health 
benefits of breastfeeding.  In an ideal world the number of 
breastfeeding women would increase to reach the goal of healthy people 
2010.  There are concerns about the number of women breastfeeding, so I 
researched journal articles and studies pertaining to: age, 
race/ethnicity and economic status in regards to the decision process 
of breastfeeding.  
A study was done by Koehn, and Wambach (2004) on urban economically 
disadvantaged pregnant adolescents between ages the 14 to 18. The 
adolescents ranged from 18 to 39 weeks gestation.  Information was 
gathered through questioning done over check-up visits.  Findings show 
both positive and negative attitudes towards breastfeeding. The study 
also found many adolescents wanted to combine breast and bottle-
feeding.  Defining reasons why they chose not to breastfeed were: pain, 
public exposure and the complexity of breastfeeding.  The article also 
stated that adolescents viewed bottle-feeding as simple and automatic, 
allowing you freedom to leave your infant with others.  Clearly there 
is a knowledge deficit. With proper breastfeeding and pumping 
techniques you also have the freedom to leave your child with others.  
Another study by Bonuck, Freeman, and Trombley (2005) relates to the 
same group of people, low-income disadvantaged women.  This study was 
done in Canada among women who followed a prenatal nutrition program.  
One-hundred and ninety-six pregnant women were selected at random.  Two 
24-hour recalls were done regarding: lifestyle habits, peer support, 
and infant-feeding practices.  Results show that a higher level of 
education is positively associated with a longer duration of 
breastfeeding.  The authors of the article make a crucial point.  
Health care professionals must understand factors that are associated 
with initiation and duration of breastfeeding among low-income women in 
order to better target breastfeeding promotion.  Targeting these 
factors is our remedy to closing in on our goal for healthy people 2010.
The last study I reviewed written by Simard I, et al. (2005) dealt with 
race/ethnicity and the impact these factors have on breastfeeding 
intentions.  The data for this study was gathered from 382 women 
through prenatal visits.  Overall, the study showed that foreign-born 
women were significantly more likely to use only breastfeeding (42% vs. 
24% for continental US born).  The reason for these statistics is 
because most of the Hispanic and Black population are native to West 
Indian countries, where breastfeeding is the norm.  
I have not had the opportunity to have the hospital experience of a 
professional nurse to be able to correlate my findings with clinical 
practice.  The question I pose is: Does the research I found coincide 
with your experiences with expectant mothers? 

Thank You for your time,
           Kim, SN


References

Bonuck KA, Freeman K, Trombley M. (2005).  Country of origin and 
race/ethnicity: Impact on breastfeeding intentions.  J Hum Lact. 3, 320-
6

Simard I, O’brien HT, Beaudoin A, Turcotte D, DamantD, Ferlnd S, 
Marcotte MJ, Jauvin N, Champoux L. (2005).  Factors influencing the 
intiation and duration of breastfeeding among low-income women followed 
by the Canada prenatal nutrition program in 4 regions of Quebec.  J Hum 
Lact. 3, 327-37.

Wambach KA, Koehn M. (2004). Experiences of infant-feeding decision-
making among    urban economically disadvantaged pregnant adolescents.  
Journal of Advanced Nursing, 48, 361-70.

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