Supporting Breastfeeding in 2021 and Beyond—Lessons from the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected maternal and infant health globally both directly from infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and indirectly from changes in health care resulting from social, economic, and health care policies unique to each country. The developing countries have to share the disproportionate burden on maternal and infant health. In this review, we discuss the uncertainties resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy, vertical transmission of the virus, and its effects on breastfeeding of the newborn. The problems of families and communities caring for mothers with COVID-19 and its impact on breastfeeding in newborns are discussed. The challenges posed by the pandemic have forced us to think and devise innovative solutions, including telemedicine help for antenatal counseling, breastfeeding education, and lactation support. Optimal utilization of resources and technology to find creative solutions at the individual and the community level will help in facilitating maternal–infant bonding soon after birth. Appropriate health care policies to support pregnant and lactating mothers will go a long way in meeting healthy child development goals.

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Health Care Policies Addressing Transgender Inmates in Prison Systems in the United States

Journal of Correctional Health Care ◽

10.1177/1078345809340423 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 280-291 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

George R. Brown ◽

Everett McDuffie

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Health Care ◽

The United States ◽

Care Policies ◽

Health Care Policies ◽

Transgender Inmates ◽

Prison Systems

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The Determinants of Rising Inequality in Health Insurance and Wages: An Equilibrium Model of Workers' Compensation and Health Care Policies

SSRN Electronic Journal ◽

10.2139/ssrn.2252645 ◽

2013 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Rong Hai

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Insurance ◽

Equilibrium Model ◽

Workers Compensation ◽

Care Policies ◽

Inequality In Health ◽

Health Care Policies

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Stigma, Structural Vulnerability, and “What Matters Most” Among Women Living With HIV in Botswana, 2017

American Journal of Public Health ◽

10.2105/ajph.2021.306274 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. e1-e9

Author(s):

Lawrence H. Yang ◽

Ohemaa B. Poku ◽

Supriya Misra ◽

Haitisha T. Mehta ◽

Shathani Rampa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Hiv Testing ◽

Structural Level ◽

Structural Vulnerability ◽

Women Living With Hiv ◽

Care Policies ◽

Health Care Policies ◽

Women With Hiv ◽

Routine Hiv Testing ◽

What Matters

Objectives. To explore whether beneficial health care policies, when implemented in the context of gender inequality, yield unintended structural consequences that stigmatize and ostracize women with HIV from “what matters most” in local culture. Methods. We conducted 46 in-depth interviews and 5 focus groups (38 individuals) with men and women living with and without HIV in Gaborone, Botswana, in 2017. Results. Cultural imperatives to bear children bring pregnant women into contact with free antenatal services including routine HIV testing, where their HIV status is discovered before their male partners’. National HIV policies have therefore unintentionally reinforced disadvantage among women with HIV, whereby men delay or avoid testing by using their partner’s status as a proxy for their own, thus facilitating blame toward women diagnosed with HIV. Gossip then defines these women as “promiscuous” and as violating the essence of womanhood. We identified cultural and structural ways to resist stigma for these women. Conclusions. Necessary HIV testing during antenatal care has inadvertently perpetuated a structural vulnerability that propagates stigma toward women. Individual- and structural-level interventions can address stigma unintentionally reinforced by health care policies. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print June 10, 2021: e1–e9. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306274 )

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