JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

While breastfeeding rates have increased in the US in recent years, racial and ethnic disparities persist. Telelactation may help reduce disparities by increasing access to lactation consultants, but there is limited research on acceptability among minoritized individuals.

Objective:

We aimed to explore experiences with telelactation among Black parents and identified strategies to make services more culturally appropriate.

Methods:

Twenty Black parents who were given access to telelactation services were selected from an ongoing NIH-funded randomized controlled trial [Tele-MILC trial] to participate in semi-structured interviews. Interviews addressed birth experiences, use and opinions about telelactation, comparison of telelactation to in-person lactation support, and recommendations to improve telelactation services. The thematic analysis was informed by Sekhon’s theoretical framework of acceptability and RAND’s Equity-Centered Model.

Results:

Users appreciated the convenience of telelactation and reported that lactation consultants were knowledgeable and helpful. Participants wanted more options to engage with lactation consultants outside of video visits (e.g., text messaging, asynchronous resources). Users who had a lactation consultant of color mentioned that racial concordance improved the experience; however, few felt that racial concordance was needed for high quality telelactation support.

Conclusions:

While Black parents in our sample found telelactation services to be acceptable, telelactation could not in isolation address the myriad barriers to long-duration breastfeeding. Several changes could be made to telelactation services to increase their use by minoritized populations.