Infant Feeding Decision-Making and the Influences of Social Support Persons Among First-Time African American Mothers.

Background While breast milk is considered the gold standard of infant feeding, a majority of African American mothers are not exclusively breastfeeding their newborn infants. Objective The overall goal of this critical ethnographic research study was to describe infant feeding perceptions and experiences of African American mothers and their support persons. Methods Twenty-two participants (14 pregnant women and eight support persons) were recruited from public health programs and community based organizations in northern California.

Breastfeeding and use of social media among first-time African American mothers.

Objective: To describe the use of social media during the antepartum and postpartum periods among first-time African American mothers and their support persons.

Design: A qualitative critical ethnographic research design within the contexts of family life course development theory and Black feminist theory.

Setting: Participants were recruited from community-based, public health, and home visiting programs.

Building Economic Security Today: making the health-wealth connection in Contra Costa county's maternal and child health programs.

In recent years, maternal and child health professionals have been seeking approaches to integrating the Life Course Perspective and social determinants of health into their work. In this article, we describe how community input, staff feedback, and evidence from the field that the connection between wealth and health should be addressed compelled the Contra Costa Family, Maternal and Child Health (FMCH) Programs Life Course Initiative to launch Building Economic Security Today (BEST). BEST utilizes innovative strategies to reduce inequities in health outcomes for low-income Contra Costa families by improving their financial security and stability.

Social stressors associated with antepartum depressive symptoms in low-income African American women.

Objectives: To describe depressive symptomatology and examine the relationship between social stressors and depressive symptoms in pregnant African American women.

Design And Sample: Cross-sectional study of 119 women receiving care at 2 prenatal clinics in Northern California.

Measures: Depressive symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).

Social stressors and strengths as predictors of infant birth weight in low-income African American women.

Background: Perinatal racial disparities remain an elusive problem in the United States. African American women experience the highest rate of low-birth-weight deliveries. Understanding the factors contributing to infant birth weight is crucial to unraveling existing perinatal racial disparities.

Conceptualizing perceived racism and its effect on the health of African-Americans: implications for practice and research.

The focus on racial health inequities has resurged. Although the reasons are complex, the consequences of racism are potentially contributing factors. This article aims to advance the concept of perceived racism as an area of focus for health inequity research by describing a framework within which to examine health outcomes that are associated with perceived racism.

An exploration of lifetime trauma exposure in pregnant low-income African American women.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe the occurrence of lifetime trauma exposure in relation to perinatal health outcomes in low-income African American women.

Methods: One hundred and sixteen pregnant African American women recruited from two public prenatal clinics participated in this exploratory study. Information was obtained about psychological symptoms, medical conditions, prenatal care utilization, and health behaviors.

Psychometric characteristics of the spiritual perspective scale in pregnant African-American women.

In health disparities research, studying the vulnerabilities of African Americans should be balanced by research on resources and strengths that influence health. One resource is spirituality, yet few tools have been developed and tested in diverse populations. This study evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the Spiritual Perspective Scale (SPS) in 102 pregnant African American women.