Term of Award

Spring 2023

Degree Name

Doctor of Public Health in Public Health Leadership (Dr.P.H.)

Document Type and Release Option

Dissertation (open access)

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Department

Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health

Committee Chair

Joanne Chopak-Foss

Committee Member 1

Kelly Sullivan

Committee Member 2

Nandi Marshall

Abstract

Mothers and babies form an inseparable biological and social unit; the health and nutrition of one group cannot be divorced from the health and nutrition of the other.”-World Health Organization. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Loving Support Peer Counseling (LSPC) program, under the WIC program in the state of Georgia, on breastfeeding duration rates among African American postpartum primiparas women. This observational study analyzed state-level data from January 2017 through December 2018. A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Loving Support Peer Counseling Program (LSPC) in six of the 18 public health districts on breastfeeding duration among African American postpartum primiparas women. Descriptive statistics of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and logistic regression analysis were used to examine the association between timing of WIC entry and breastfeeding duration. Therefore, this study used a Socioecological Model (SEM) to highlight the disparities in breastfeeding outcomes among African American postpartum primiparas women at six and 12 months. Health districts by breastfeeding rates showed a statistically significant difference for women (χ2 = 9.3) enrolled in the Loving Support Peer Counseling (LSPC) program. Health districts with lower reported breastfeeding rates enrolled slightly higher percentages of women in the program during the prenatal period compared to the high breastfeeding rate districts. Type of contact played an important role on breastfeeding duration, with the odds of breastfeeding at six months being greater for women who received face-to-face contacts (adjusted OR = 1.60, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15 to 2.21). Other factors did not contribute to breastfeeding cessation at six and 12-month intervals. The results suggest that the Loving Support Peer Counseling (LSPC) program increased breastfeeding duration among African American postpartum primiparas women enrolled in the program.

OCLC Number

1409418174

Research Data and Supplementary Material

No

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