Empowering Black and African American Breastfeeding Families with @cinnamoms_ Toncé Jackson, EdD, MPH, RDN, CLE

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE

 Breastfeeding is hard. And racial and ethnic disparities don’t make breastfeeding any easier for Black and African American mothers. Dr. Toncé Jackson co-founded Cinnamoms to offer support and sisterhood in her WIC agency…but her mission has expanded much further in the parenting space. In this episode Dr. Jackson explains how the Cinnamoms model is increasing the rate of breastfeeding for Black and African American moms at 6 months, and why this is so important as babies prepare to start solid foods.

SUMMARY OF EPISODE

In this episode we’re talking about:

• Which barriers to continued breastfeeding for Black and African American mothers can be altered and to what degree 

• How Cinnamoms virtual and in person support groups helped increase rates breastfeeding beyond 6 months

• Why having more IBCLCs and lactation educators from the Cinnamoms community was an important pillar for change 

ABOUT THE GUEST

• Dr. Toncé Jackson is the Sr. Health Equity Manager at PHFE WIC and co-founder of Cinnamoms

• Cinnamoms seeks to empower and support Black and African American breastfeeding families

• The Cinnamoms program has helped increase the rate of breastfeeding at 6 months from 12% to 18% within their cohort

LINKS FROM EPISODE

• Cinnamoms Website: https://www.cinnamoms.org/

• Cinnamoms Instagram @cinnamoms_ 

• Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Breastfeeding Initiation - United States, 2019 (CDC): https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7021a1.htm 

• PHFE WIC - the largest local WIC Agency in the US: https://www.phfewic.org/en/home/ 

• About WIC: How WIC Helps: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/about-wic-how-wic-helps 

• Sign up for WIC regardless of status: https://signupwic.com/ 

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• Grab my free download called 10 EASY STARTER FOODS FOR BABY-LED WEANING - sometimes just getting the confidence to get going will help you realize your baby CAN and WANTS to do this self-feeding thing! < < CLICK HERE FOR THE 10 STARTER FOODS DOWNLOAD > >

• REGISTER for my free online workshop BABY-LED WEANING FOR BEGINNERS: How to get your baby to try 100 foods before turning 1 without you having to spoon-feed purees or buy pouches. Everyone on the workshop gets a copy of my 100 FIRST FOODS list so you’ll know exactly what foods babies CAN eat when they’re ready for BLW! Register for this week’s workshop times here.