Examining the Role of Women, Infant, and Children in Black Women Breastfeeding Duration and Exclusivity: A Systematic Review.

Background: African American women continue to experience low rates of breastfeeding initiation as well as low rates of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months. Research has indicated that there are several social determinants that impact breastfeeding rates, but there is a dearth of literature that allows African American women to give voice to their experiences. In addition, research has shown women, infant, and children (WIC) participants to have lower breastfeeding rates than non-WIC eligible women. Research Aim/Question: The aim of this systematic review was to examine the relationship between WIC program participation and breastfeeding initiation and duration among non-Hispanic African American/Black women. Methods: The approach for this review used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Four online databases, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and SCOPUS, were used to search for peer-reviewed articles and grey literature. Results: Two hundred eighteen articles were retrieved through the database search and underwent initial screening, yielding 59 potential eligible articles. Full-text articles were further reviewed and 11 met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Conclusions: Included studies show mixed results regarding the association between WIC participation and breastfeeding initiation, but there is a general negative association between WIC participation and breastfeeding duration, especially among Black women.

Challenges and lessons learned birthing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review.

Background and Aims: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the healthcare system facilitated a change in policies to redress the consequences of increased demand and fear of disease transmission. Restrictive measures throughout the healthcare system limiting access to accompanying partners of birthing people in addition to fears of contracting COVID-19, an increasing number of birthing people chose to have an out-of-hospital birth. Out-of-hospital births are not prevalent in the United States. However, in recent years the percentage of out-of-hospital births has been steadily increasing. COVID-19 was a novel virus imposing a unique birthing situation for millions of women, complicated by lack of integration and varied policies in the U.S. Methods: To better understand the challenges of birthing people during the pandemic a scoping review was conducted to explore the literature during the first wave of the pandemic related to out-of-hospital births. The approach for this review made use of the methodology manual published by the Joanna Briggs Institute for scoping reviews. All manner of publications (i.e. peer-reviewed published articles, grey articles, conference proceedings, webinars, editorials, and textbook chapters) were included in the review. Results: Articles retrieved from the database search yielded sixty-three articles, after duplicate removal forty-six records were available for screening. Articles were further excluded using the PRISMA process, yielding thirty-one remaining records. From the thirty-one records twelve themes emerged, which were collapsed into four meta-themes. Conclusion: These meta-themes focused on (a) advocacy, (b) homebirth infrastructure, (c) support networks, and (d) uncertainty during the pandemic. COVID-19 has accelerated this movement to birthing at home and thought must be given to how the healthcare system is going to support and integrate this mode of birthing.