Center for Ethics Assistant Director Libby Bogdan-Lovis is a co-investigator on the project “Buffers, Barriers, and Resiliency in Breastfeeding Behaviors of Asian American Mothers.” The project is funded by the Trifecta Initiative for Interdisciplinary Health Research, a collaboration between the Colleges of Communication Arts & Sciences, Engineering, and Nursing at Michigan State University.
The interdisciplinary research team includes principal investigator Joanne Goldbort of the College of Nursing, Mary Bresnahan of the College of Communication Arts & Sciences, and Jie Zhuang of the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at Texas Christian University.
Project Summary: While Asian American (AA) mothers are described as high initiators of breastfeeding, no previous studies have conducted a randomized trial of AA mothers’ breastfeeding and formula use behaviors and whether these mothers continue to breastfeed exclusively for the recommended six months. Using an online Qualtrics customized panel, we will conduct a systematic investigation of the breastfeeding behaviors and timing of the introduction of complementary foods, and use of formula of AA mothers over a one-year period. We will recruit 1200 women between the ages of 18 and 35, as follows: 400 AA mothers with children one-year or younger; 400 pregnant AA women; and 400 American mothers from all race/ethnic groups will serve as the control group. This longitudinal study will track pregnant AA women through the birth of their babies, and will assess breastfeeding support and behaviors after the initial data collection, at 3-months, 6-months, and at one-year.
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