IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v122y2014icp140-147.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contextualizing online human milk sharing: Structural factors and lactation disparity among middle income women in the U.S

Author

Listed:
  • Palmquist, Aunchalee E.L.
  • Doehler, Kirsten

Abstract

Women in the U.S. face significant structural constraints in attempting to breastfeed as recommended in the first six months of their child's life. Internet-facilitated human milk sharing is an emergent response to breastfeeding challenges. Little is known about the demographic characteristics of milk sharing donors and recipients and the ways structural factors circumscribe the biocultural context of lactation in milk sharing practices. Data regarding demographic characteristics, reproductive history, lactation history, and levels of social support and health care provider support for breastfeeding were collected via an online survey September 2013–March 2014. Statistical tests were executed to ascertain whether significant differences exist between donors and recipients. A total of 867 respondents (661 donors, 206 recipients) met the eligibility criteria for the study. Respondents were U.S. residents and primarily White, middle-class, well educated, and employed women. Both donors and recipients reported higher than the national average for household income, maternal educational attainment, breastfeeding exclusivity 0–6 months, and breastfeeding duration. Differences in lactation sufficiency and breastfeeding outcomes between donors and recipients were associated with both structural and biocultural factors. Donors reported significantly higher income, education, and support for breastfeeding from spouse/partner, other family, employers, and pediatricians. Donors also reported significantly higher rates of full term birth for child of most recent lactation. This study provides a foundation for understanding how milk sharing reflects a broader political economy of breastfeeding in the U.S.

Suggested Citation

  • Palmquist, Aunchalee E.L. & Doehler, Kirsten, 2014. "Contextualizing online human milk sharing: Structural factors and lactation disparity among middle income women in the U.S," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 140-147.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:122:y:2014:i:c:p:140-147
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614006893
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.036?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bonuck, K. & Stuebe, A. & Barnett, J. & Labbok, M.H. & Fletcher, J. & Bernstein, P.S., 2014. "Effect of primary care intervention on breastfeeding duration and intensity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(S1), pages 119-127.
    2. Rossin, Maya, 2011. "The effects of maternity leave on children's birth and infant health outcomes in the United States," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 221-239, March.
    3. Baranowski, Tom & Bee, David E. & Rassin, David K. & Richardson, C. Joan & Brown, Judy P. & Guenther, Nancy & Nader, Philip R., 1983. "Social support, social influence, ethnicity and the breastfeeding decision," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 17(21), pages 1599-1611, January.
    4. Guttman, Nurit & Zimmerman, Deena R., 2000. "Low-income mothers' views on breastfeeding," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 50(10), pages 1457-1473, May.
    5. Baker, Michael & Milligan, Kevin, 2008. "Maternal employment, breastfeeding, and health: Evidence from maternity leave mandates," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 871-887, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tomori, Cecilia & Palmquist, Aunchalee E.L. & Dowling, Sally, 2016. "Contested moral landscapes: Negotiating breastfeeding stigma in breastmilk sharing, nighttime breastfeeding, and long-term breastfeeding in the U.S. and the U.K," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 178-185.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sara Oloomi, 2016. "Impact of Paid Family Leave of California on Delayed Childbearing and on Infant Health Outcomes," Departmental Working Papers 2016-08, Department of Economics, Louisiana State University.
    2. Huebener, Mathias & Kuehnle, Daniel & Spiess, C. Katharina, 2019. "Parental leave policies and socio-economic gaps in child development: Evidence from a substantial benefit reform using administrative data," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 61.
    3. Khanam, Rasheda & Nghiem, Son & Connelly, Luke, 2016. "The effects of parental leave on child health and postnatal care: Evidence from Australia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 17-29.
    4. Beuchert, Louise Voldby & Humlum, Maria Knoth & Vejlin, Rune, 2016. "The length of maternity leave and family health," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 55-71.
    5. Canaan, Serena, 2022. "Parental leave, household specialization and children’s well-being," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. Rita Ginja & Jenny Jans & Arizo Karimi, 2020. "Parental Leave Benefits, Household Labor Supply, and Children’s Long-Run Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(1), pages 261-320.
    7. Chuard, Caroline, 2020. "Womb at work: The missing impact of maternal employment on newborn health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    8. Lebihan, Laetitia & Mao Takongmo, Charles Olivier, 2023. "The effect of paid parental leave on breastfeeding, parental health and behavior," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    9. Deborah Karasek & Sarah Raifman & William H. Dow & Rita Hamad & Julia M. Goodman, 2022. "Evaluating the Effect of San Francisco’s Paid Parental Leave Ordinance on Birth Outcomes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, September.
    10. Rita Ginja & Jenny Jans & Arizo Karimi, 2017. "Parental Investments in Early Life and Child Outcomes: Evidence from Swedish Parental Leave Rules," Working Papers 2017-085, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    11. Guertzgen, Nicole & Hank, Karsten, 2014. "Maternity leave and mothers' long-term sickness absence: Evidence from Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 14-109, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    12. Avendano, Mauricio & Berkman, Lisa F. & Brugiavini, Agar & Pasini, Giacomo, 2015. "The long-run effect of maternity leave benefits on mental health: Evidence from European countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 45-53.
    13. Pedro Carneiro & Katrine V. Løken & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2015. "A Flying Start? Maternity Leave Benefits and Long-Run Outcomes of Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 123(2), pages 365-412.
    14. Jessica Pac & Ann P. Bartel & Christopher Ruhm & Jane Waldfogel, 2019. "Paid Family Leave and Breastfeeding: Evidence from California," Working Papers 2019-031, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    15. Courtin, Emilie & Rieckmann, Andreas & Bengtsson, Jessica & Nafilyan, Vahe & Melchior, Maria & Berkman, Lisa & Hulvej Rod, Naja, 2023. "The effect on women’s health of extending parental leave: a quasi-experimental registry-based cohort study," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122771, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Feng Chen, 2023. "Does paid family leave save infant lives? Evidence from California's paid family leave program," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 319-337, April.
    17. Chuard, Caroline, 2023. "Negative effects of long parental leave on maternal health: Evidence from a substantial policy change in Austria," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Broadway, Barbara & Kalb, Guyonne & Kühnle, Daniel & Mäder, Miriam, 2015. "The Effect of Paid Parental Leave on Child Health in Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 8978, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Huang, Rui & Yang, Muzhe, 2015. "Paid maternity leave and breastfeeding practice before and after California's implementation of the nation's first paid family leave program," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 45-59.
    20. Miriam Wüst, 2015. "Maternal Employment During Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes: Evidence From Danish Siblings," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(6), pages 711-725, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:122:y:2014:i:c:p:140-147. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.