National Breastfeeding Month: Support for New Mothers, Especially Those Behind Bars

In the United States and globally, August is recognized as National Breastfeeding Month, and National Breastfeeding Week is recognized the first week of August each year.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other health authorities, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life is a sufficient and an unequivocally beneficial form of feeding for infants.  

While breastfeeding is praised by many, it is crucial that new mothers and families be supported in doing it. Lactation support and access to healthy, protein-rich foods help post-partum mothers navigate this energy intensive process.

Additionally, in one study, researchers in the United Kingdom found that providing emotional support to the breastfeeding parent (versus information alone) is associated with a greater likelihood of continuing to breastfeed. In the U.S., programs like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) promote healthy eating and breastfeeding for post-partum mothers. The program also has a tailored food package for breastfeeding women and recognizes the importance of emotional support and encouragement for new parents.

Unfortunately, many new mothers face significant barriers to breastfeeding, and some are barred from breastfeeding altogether due to incarceration. In the United States, several social determinants affect a mother’s decision to breastfeed or not. These include but are not limited to education, housing, employment, and economic status. The ability to take compensated time away from work can also influence breastfeeding decisions. The federal government does not cover paid leave for new parents, even though it is shown to be beneficial to the health and well-being of new mothers and babies. The Affordable Care Act does require that reasonable break times be made available to nursing mothers, which is an important workplace accommodation that is essential to a fuller safety net for new parents.  

 While various factors have greater or lesser associations with breastfeeding decisions, the disparities across race are pronounced. Non-Hispanic Black mothers have the lowest reported rates of breastfeeding compared to all other racial and ethnic groups. This is why the work of groups like CinnaMoms and the Black Mammas Matter Alliance is important. For example, Mamatoto Village is a health collaborative in Washington, DC, focused on new mothers and pregnant women who are Black. It offers a comprehensive breastfeeding program that further highlights the importance of direct support for new mothers. Altogether, these groups help create safe, culturally responsive spaces to address these disparities and facilitate access to programs like WIC and lactation support services.

Lower breastfeeding rates among Black mothers also point to the importance of building a stronger federal social safety net for whole family units, not the breastfeeding parent in isolation. Access to SNAP, WIC, and income supports such as the Child Tax Credit are part of that safety net, along with safe and affordable housing, access to good jobs and paid leave, and health care.

The U.S. is an outlier when it comes to the incarceration of women. In 2022, approximately 180,864 women were incarcerated across jails and state and federal prisons. Globally, the United States accounts for 30 percent of the world’s incarcerated female population. According to the American Medical Association (AMA) Journal of Ethics, nearly 2,000 babies are born every year to mothers who are incarcerated. The same study revealed that 5 to 10 percent of those who enter incarceration are pregnant and subsequently give birth behind bars.

Being incarcerated will never remove the need to breastfeed or bond with infants once they are born. In the U.S., incarcerated women are regularly shackled and handcuffed during labor and delivery, and many are separated from their infants soon thereafter and not allowed to breastfeed. This experience of separation can lead to psychological distress in the mother and child, and it is widely condemned by several U.S. legal organizations, including the American Bar Association (ABA) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Much reform is still needed in this area, but there are rare instances where early bonding is prioritized for incarcerated mothers and their infants. In Washington state, the Washington Corrections Center for Women operates a Residential Parenting Program (RPP) that allows post-partum mothers to keep their newborns with them for up to 30 months, establishing typical features of early motherhood like breastfeeding. In California, Assembly Bill 2507, passed in 2018, created a new policy for county jails that allows nursing mothers to pump and store their breastmilk for pick up by a family member.

In 2016, the Stop Infant Mortality and Recidivism Act (SIMARRA) was introduced in Congress to allow the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to establish pilot programs like the RPP in Washington state, but it never became law.

While we celebrate the importance of breastfeeding this August, and many advocacy groups push for full funding for WIC in FY 2026, we must always hold tight to a brighter future for new mothers, babies, and families, especially those who are burdened by incarceration and other conditions that threaten human flourishing.

Sakeenah Shabazz is Deputy Director, Policy and Research Institute, with Bread for the World.