Telephone-Based Support and Education to Promote Breastfeeding Rates of Latina Medicaid Recipients

Forty-three percent of Latina women are obese and children of Mexican-American descent have a 39 percent prevalence rate for being overweight and at risk for obesity. Obesity is a major contributor to other chronic diseases including Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancers. Overweight and obesity among youth place them at risk for adverse health outcomes including new onset asthma, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this project is to reduce obesity prevalance rates among low-income Latina Medicaid recipients and their children through the implementation of prenatal and postnatal breastfeeding education and support provided by Breastfeeding Educators. The goals of the project are to: 1) increase prevention activities related to obesity risk for Latina Medicaid recipients and their children and 2) increase the availability and access of breastfeeding education and support services to Latina Medicaid recipients. This study utilizes a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the efficacy of trained Breastfeeding Educators providing Latina mothers with prenatal and postnatal telephone-based breastfeeding education and support.

Participants were Latina Medicaid recipients recruited during their prenatal visit. Participants were randomly assigned to the control or intervention groups using a computer software program. The control group receives breastfeeding education and health care support offered by their health clinic. The intervention group receives the same services as the control group, plus three telephone-based prenatal breastfeeding education and support calls and seventeen telephone-based postpartum breastfeeding education and support calls for the first six months following a delivery.