Catholic Social Teaching and America's Suboptimal Breastfeeding Rate: Where Faith and Policy Should Meet to Combat Injustice

Abstract

Despite the numerous health benefits of breastfeeding, few American women breastfeed for the optimal duration of time. Reasons given for not following national and global institutional breastfeeding recommendations are various and multi-faceted. However, for many American women who would like to breastfeed, unjust historical, social, economic, cultural, and environmental factors negatively impact their ability to breastfeed. Catholic social teaching seeks to protect the poor and the vulnerable by working for social and economic justice, encourages stewardship of the environment, and uplifts the family as the most important unit in society. As such, Catholic social teaching has clear implications for individuals and institutions seeking to make breastfeeding a more widespread, accepted practice. In response to the crisis in American rates of breastfeeding, American Catholic healthcare institutions should work to promote the just economic and social conditions necessary for American women to breastfeed their children, starting by implementing breastfeeding-friendly policies for patients and employees in their own institutions.Summary: For many American women who would like to breastfeed, unjust historical, social, economic, cultural, and environmental factors negatively impact their ability to breastfeed. Catholic social teaching has clear implications for individuals and institutions seeking to make breastfeeding a more widespread, accepted practice. Therefore, American Catholic healthcare institutions should work particularly hard to promote the just economic and social conditions necessary for American women to breastfeed their children, starting by implementing breastfeeding-friendly policies for patients and employees in their own institutions.

The role of state breastfeeding laws and programs on exclusive breastfeeding practice among mothers in the special supplemental nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

“…Instances have been reported of unawareness of the existence of laws permitting mothers to breastfeed in any public or private location, and where mothers were told to stop breastfeeding or leave the vicinity of premises [ 29 ]. Mothers in such situations may stop breastfeeding because they feel embarrassed and afraid of being stigmatized by the people around them [ 30 , 31 ]. Another plausible explanation for our finding is that some of these laws only encourage, but do not require employers to provide specific breastfeeding protections [ 11 ].…”