Lactation education practice and procedure: information and support offered to economically disadvantaged women

Seventy-five agencies providing services to a large percentage of economically disadvantaged pregnant women returned mailed survey questionnaires. These surveys described the timing and nature of lactation education available to clients of the respondent agencies. Lactation education was most frequently introduced at 16-week gestation. Fifty-seven (76%) of the respondents stated that lactation education was offered to all clients at least once during pregnancy, and 23 (31%) stated that all prenatal clients were expected to attend breastfeeding classes, regardless of stated feeding choice. Respondents generally agreed that breastfeeding should be encouraged if a woman is undecided about feeding issues, but they were less definite concerning active encouragement of breastfeeding to women who had made another feeding choice. These findings may facilitate the effort to increase initiation of breastfeeding by examining education practices and provider attitudes that may foster or hinder breastfeeding adoption in this client population.