Additional information
by Katherine Barber (Author)
Do you need help promoting breastfeeding to your African-American clients? Katherine Barber, founder of the African American Breastfeeding Alliance and author of The Black Woman's Guide to Breastfeeding, shares her experience and knowledge with you in Lactation Management: Strategies for Working with African-American Moms. Designed for health professionals, Barber discusses: The lower rate of breastfeeding and how prevalent diseases in the African-American community could be impacted by increased breastfeeding rates. The history of African women brought to America and how slavery has impacted breastfeeding in this population. The barriers to breastfeeding for the African-American mother. She then describes how to: Successfully communicate with and counsel your African-American clients. Help African-American mothers return to work and continue to breastfeed. Reach out to the African-American community to get their help in supporting breastfeeding mothers. This book is a must-read for everyone working with African-American pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.
Author Biography
While successfully nursing her son in the late 1990's, Kathi Barber became intrigued with breastfeeding. She began to read about breastfeeding and came across the startling statistics about breastfeeding in the Black community. Kathi took training courses with La Leche League and other groups, which led her to become immersed in the breastfeeding sub-culture. This was not sufficient for her, however, because the breastfeeding sub-culture was largely white. Kathi was passionately compelled to help women in her own African-American community. In January of 2000, she established the African American Breastfeeding Alliance (AABA), the first non-profit organization whose sole mission was to support breastfeeding in the Black community, and educate Black families and their support people (i.e., doctors, LC's, WIC staff, nurses, etc.) about the importance of breastfeeding in this population. As Founder and Executive Director of AABA, Kathi has spoken nationally to hundreds of professionals, organizations, agencies and mothers on breastfeeding and African-American women. She is regularly approached by the media when a new statistic or research study is released and Black women and breastfeeding are involved. In the mid-2000's, former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher commended her efforts at an international breastfeeding conference of over a thousand attendees. In early 2003, her work was featured in a two-page article in the Washington Post. Years of passionate effort on the behalf of the women in her community led her to write the first book on breastfeeding and Black women - The Black Woman's Guide to Breastfeeding: The Definitive Guide to Nursing for African American Mothers, published by Sourcebooks in 2005.
