Black Breastfeeding Week 2025: Boots on the Ground

August 25-31 is Black Breastfeeding Week, as a part of August’s World Breastfeeding Month. At LATCH Cafe, we celebrated Black Breastfeeding with this year’s theme, Boots on the Ground: Rooted in Breastfeeding Success, Grounded in Community Support.

Black Breastfeeding Week started in 2012 in an effort to address racial disparities in breastfeeding. In a national survey conducted in 2015, researchers found that 83% of U.S. mothers breastfed,  but when broken down by race, only 69% of Black women breastfed, compared to 85% of white women.. While this is true across the United States, the numbers vary based on location. For instance, in Philadelphia, research shows that 87% of white women initiated breastfeeding compared to 80% of Black women,.but by 8 weeks, only 59% of Black parents are breastfeeding, compared to 75% of white parents. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants receive only breastmilk until 6 months of age, and it is encouraged to keep breastfeeding until the child turns two years old.

There are a few reasons for these disparities, but it is impossible to discuss the reasons without recognizing the legacy of slavery. Generate Health writes that, “for the nearly 250 years that slavery endured in the United States, Black women and birthing people were regularly forced to provide breast milk to the infants of their slave owners.” Irth, a project that addresses health disparities, further explained that, “Black women in slavery were forced to stop nursing their own children to provide breast milk for the children of the slave owner… And since breastfeeding reduces fertility, slave owners forced Black women to stop breastfeeding early so that they could continue breeding, often to the detriment of their infants’ health. This stunted breastfeeding experience created a stunted mothering experience and the commodification of Black women as breeders and feeders.” These practices continued into the Reconstructive Era, and Black women were hired as wet nurses up to the 1940s.

In today’s world, Black women often report systemic barriers in their breastfeeding journey. Some of it involves a lack of family or community support. The negative association of breastfeeding and slavery is still impacting communities, and older generations still view breastfeeding as something they were forced to do against their autonomy, creating both a lack of support and negative cues. Employment is also a large barrier. Black women are over-represented in the service industry and have less access to both maternity leave and lactation support. In Philadelphia, 26% of Black women reported a return to work as their reason for not continuing to breastfeed, versus 10% of white women. Black women also overreport that healthcare professionals did not educate them about breastfeeding. Infant formula marketing targeted Black families and other families of color, and hospitals are twice as likely to provide formula to Black infants as to white infants.

These systemic issues that cause the discrepancies in breastfeeding rates between Black women and their counterparts led to the creation of Black Breastfeeding Week. The LATCH Cafe and NNCC have participated in this week for many years, working with other members of our community to continue to promote and emphasize the importance of breastfeeding in our communities. This year, we spent time at the Cafe talking about how community, like LATCH, supports the breastfeeding journey. We had some great responses:

How did your community, like LATCH, support your breastfeeding journey?

• Reminded me to step out to pump

• Kept me company when I pumped

• Reminded me, your body is enough. You are doing great.

• Kept me going, saying don’t quit. Your body is supplying enough.

• Provided conversations with other breastfeeding mothers.

Our discussion at LATCH Cafe, in addition to the responses noted above, highlighted how many people currently experience being the first (in generations) to nurse their babies in their family and community, and thus had to serve as the person educating the very people who were their potential support system. We acknowledged how changing the perception of breastfeeding in communities that have been impacted by historical and current systemic racism means continuing to share stories, latch babies even when no one understands the “what” or “why” of it, and trust that slowly this will have ripple effects throughout family and friends and future generations. 

LATCH Cafe is so grateful to have our “boots on the ground” in Philadelphia. We love facilitating connections between parents, community supporters, family members, and anyone who has a passion and interest in lactation and feeding babies. Happy Black Breastfeeding Week 2025!