Table 1.
Themes and Quotes.
| Themes | Participant Quotes |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Personal determinants | |
| Simplicity of formula | “What made me switch to formula all the way was cause when I got home…I was by myself and trying to clean and take care of myself and take care of him and pump my breasts and all that stuff it was just too much.” “When she wakes up in the middle of the night and she wants a bottle…my boyfriend can wake up and make her a bottle…so I can get some rest.” “I was going to work and I didn’t know how I can just pump and work and him being at the babysitter.” “I’ve seen stuff about people saying mothers shouldn’t breastfeed in public. I didn’t want to go through that, somebody rolling their eyes cause I was breastfeeding, so formula was easier” “I don’t see any difference not being any healthier than the breast milk because I mean she’s growing well, she’s still not sick or anything.” “He’s still receiving the proper nutrients that’s required for him to develop properly is all I was concerned about. I’m feeding my son formula because that’s what’s best for our lifestyle. The fact that I’m on the go, have older children…that suits us.” |
| Diverse support networks | “Definitely my grandmother if no one else is, she’s definitely for breastfeeding. My mom, she was just kind of like, whatever works for you… She doesn’t want to be like a burden or a stress factor.” “My friends and his daddy wanted me to keep him breastfed.” “My mom wanted me to breastfeed at first but it wasn’t working out so she supported me with formula feeding too.” “My sister, she never wanted me to breastfeed. She told me to never do it. She says you’re not going to find a sitter and breastfeeding spoils ‘em.” |
| Behavioral determinants | |
| Early breastfeeding is most important | “I did want to breastfeed because of the benefits from it but the only reason why I didn’t breastfeed was because I couldn’t tolerate the pain that I had in my breasts.” “I feel like we should, as in Black women should embrace and breastfeed our baby. At least give it a try…start off with it like I did and then switch over. Just to give that baby that good milk that they need at first.” “It’s just a lot cause you have to change your diet too and I had already did that for nine long months of eaten healthy and all that and you got to continue to do it so it’s like…a year basically.” |
| Environmental determinants | |
| Lack of access to breastfeeding support resources | “Formula feeding cost more but thank God we got WIC. Cause if it wasn’t for WIC, I would probably try to stick to more breastfeeding.” “The last class that I took at the WIC program, we talked about budgeting… It [breastfeeding] may be expensive with getting bags and stuff like that for the breast milk to go into.” “The only one time I saw a lactation consultant was when I went to my WIC appointments. And although she was really…helpful, and she told me, ‘if you need me at 3 o’clock in the morning you call me, it doesn’t matter’. But, you know, my mind, at the time, was just not on it.” “I’ve never really heard of anyone that’s Black who breastfed. Besides a few celebrities…I think when it comes down to infant feeding I think most Black people usually just kind of take the easy way out.” “A lot of black women do not breastfeed I’ve noticed that. They just go straight to formula…I know a lot of White people do it [breastfeeding] and I’ve noticed that a lot of Black people do not and I’ve seen it at my job too like they love it, like the White people love breastfeeding but the Black women don’t.” |
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).