Public Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding: Media Coverage and Public Opinion

1
Public Attitudes Toward Breastfeeding Media
Coverage and Public Opinion

• Karen M. Kedrowski, Ph.D.
• Department of Political Science, Winthrop
  University
• Prepared for annual conference of La Leche
  League, South Carolina
• April 29, 2006

2
What are Public Attitudes?

• Hostile?
• Advocates perceive hostility.
• BF mothers anecdotes.
• Supportive?
• Considerable and growing evidence of health
  benefits.
• Public health goal to increase BF rates and
  duration
• Widespread social movement (LLL and others)

3
Two measures of Public Attitudes

• Study of media coverage, 1990-2004
• Approximately 220 stories (very little)
• Three TV networks
• Four newspapers
• Eleven womens magazines
• Public Opinion Survey
• Fall 2004
• 461 residents of Rock Hill, SC area

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Media Coverage by Medium

• Newspapers 69
• Womens Magazines 21.1
• Almost all coverage in Parenting and Baby Talk.
  Some in Working Mother.
• Almost none in mainstream womens magazines (GH,
  Better Homes, Redbook), feminist magazine (Ms) or
  African American womens magazines (Ebony, Jet,
  Essence).
• Television 9.3

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Mixed Message 1 BF Good?

• Miracle Milk Stories 37
• health benefits to babies and moms
• related scientific discoveries
• infants cured of illnesses
• rising BF rates.
• Sick Baby Stories 36
• BF mishaps
• Transfers viruses, toxins or pollutants (AIDS,
  dioxin, medications)

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Mixed Message 2 Public BF

• Stories that support breastfeeding in public 10
• Stories focusing on problems with public
  breastfeeding
• 3 against, presented negatively.
• 9.6 problems with public breastfeeding, such as
  harassment or employment discrimination.

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Separating Milk from the Breast

• Story Sources
• Dominance of medical doctors and scientists in
  newspapers and TV coverage.
• Womens stories present only in womens
  magazines.
• Result much discussion about the benefits of
  breast milk but little discussion of how the milk
  is delivered.

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Importance

• Most policy makers do not read parenting
  magazines
• Womens experience and expertise not part of the
  media coverage they consume.
• Picture of breastfeeding that they receive is
  mixed
• Beneficial and dangerous
• Acceptable and offensive
• Milk but no breast
• Helps explain the conflicting public policies

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PUBLIC OPINION

• Survey was designed to gauge attitudes toward
  witnessing public breastfeeding.
• Asked to respond to particular scenarios, such as
  seeing a mother breastfeed in a restaurant, and
  about bf rights.
• Deliberately included difficult scenarios.
• Respondents less representative of Rock Hill or
  South Carolina, but similar to US as a whole.

10
Breastfeeding is Uncommon

• 76 of respondents indicated they have children.
• 47 indicated their child/children were
  breastfed.
• African-American and white respondents reported
  similar rates of breastfeeding.
• Initiation and duration of BF correlated with
  education.

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LITTLE AGREEMENT

• Do women have a right to breastfeed?
• 40 agree or strongly agree.
• Offended to witness bf in public?
• Covered by blanket 11 offended or highly
  offended
• Mothers abdomen showing 35 offended or
  highly offended
• Nipple or breast showing 69 offended or
  highly offended
• Toddler nursing 64 offended or highly
  offended

12
Accommodating Working Moms

• Allow extra break time to pump or nurse 67
  agree or strongly agree/ 24 disagree or strongly
  disagree
• Employer required to provide a clean, private
  place to pump or nurse 60/28
• Employer required to provide a refrigerator for
  milk storage 49/39

13
Variations in Opinion

• Women
• more likely to be offended by seeing body parts
  exposed
• More likely to be offended by seeing a nursing
  toddler.
• African Americans
• More likely to support break time for bf moms in
  the workplace and
• Less likely to support requiring employers to
  provide a refrigerator.
• Experience matters Respondents whose children
  were breastfed were
• More supportive of public breastfeeding
• More supportive of employment accommodations and
• More likely to support a right to breastfeed.

14
Importance

• People unaware of the realities of breastfeeding.
• Difficult maintaining modesty
• AAP recommendations (as long as mutually
  desired)
• Unaware of biological realities of breastfeeding
• Men are not necessarily the source of opposition.
  Women not necessarily allies.
• Contradictory attitudes help explain
  contradictory public policies.