August 1 marks the beginning of National Breastfeeding Month and World Breastfeeding Week, celebrating the benefits of breastfeeding for families in the United States and around the world. All month long, 1,000 Days, an Initiative of FHI Solutions, and its fellow advocates will highlight breastfeeding in different communities and how we can build a landscape of breastfeeding support. Join us!
In this update to our 2019 report, The First 1,000 Days: The Case for Paid Leave in America, we present the latest research and data from the last two years on the opportunity to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and child health through the passage of a universal, comprehensive paid family and medical leave policy in the United States.
We are missing many opportunities to support breastfeeding in the United States. In the healthcare system, broken communication, competing priorities, and low confidence in support skills create roadblocks for lactation support throughout the breastfeeding journey. As a consequence of these missed opportunities, 60% of mothers stop breastfeeding before they planned, and only a quarter of babies are exclusively breastfed at six months old despite high breastfeeding initiation rates. Our system is failing breastfeeding families. Supporting families every step of the way requires frequent & consistent education, counseling, problem solving, and communication among all providers.
August 1st marks the beginning of National Breastfeeding Month and World Breastfeeding Week, celebrating the benefits of breastfeeding for families in the United States and around the world. All month long, 1,000 Days and its fellow advocates will be highlighting breastfeeding in different communities and how we can build a landscape of breastfeeding support.
We conducted multiple, in-depth interviews with four low-income women in Texas throughout their pregnancy and postpartum period. Each of these women, who vary in age, race, marital status, educational attainment and occupation, have one key thing in common: they do not have access to paid family and medical leave.
Learn more about what makes paid leave a public health imperative.
We conducted multiple, in-depth interviews with four low-income women in Pennsylvania throughout their pregnancy and postpartum period. Each of these women, who vary in age, race, marital status, educational attainment and occupation, have one key thing in common: they do not have access to paid family and medical leave.
Learn more about what makes paid leave a public health imperative.
We conducted multiple, in-depth interviews with four low-income women in Kansas throughout their pregnancy and postpartum period. Each of these women, who vary in age, race, marital status, educational attainment and occupation, have one key thing in common: they do not have access to paid family and medical leave.
Learn more about what makes paid leave a public health imperative.
We conducted multiple, in-depth interviews with four low-income women in Georgia throughout their pregnancy and postpartum period. Each of these women, who vary in age, race, marital status, educational attainment and occupation, have one key thing in common: they do not have access to paid family and medical leave.
Learn more about what makes paid leave a public health imperative.
Our latest report, Qualitative Paid Leave Report: Furthering Our Case for Paid Leave in the United States, is based on a study we commissioned to examine how lack of paid leave affects the well-being of new mothers and their babies, particularly women working in low-wage jobs, and to amplify the experiences of low-wage working mothers in their own words. By interviewing and surveying 20 women in five states that did not require workers to have access to paid leave, we learned about how mothers navigate the experiences, demands and joys of motherhood.
For more about the report, our work with paid leave and how you can help, visit here.
