Myths hold fast some black women f...

Myths hold fast some black women from breastfeeding, putting their babies at risk, writes Mishawn Purnell-O'Neal in her self-published work "Breastfeeding Facts Over Fiction: Health Implications forward the African American Community." Purnell-O'Neal, a west suburban Forest Park resident and mother, has a master's stage in public health and works as a consultant for the March of Dimes. She dispels myths about breastfeeding, including that it will stop the growth of a baby's growth or make the child germinate too attached to the mother. In fact, Purnell-O'Neal writes, breastfeeding can help preclude Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which is more than twice as likely to kill black babies than white babies in Illinois, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Community Renewal Society

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group