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Culture

A new program in Mississippi is helping Black mothers breastfeed. Here's why it's crucial.

A new program in Mississippi is helping Black mothers breastfeed. Here's why it's crucial.
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The Delta Baby Cafe in Sunflower County, Mississippi is providing breastfeeding assistance where it's needed most.

Mississippi has the third lowest rate of breastfeeding in America. Only 70% of infants are ever-breastfed in the state, compared to 84% nationally.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends infants be exclusively breastfed for their first six months of life. However, in Mississippi, less than 40% are still breastfeeding at six months.


The population of Sunflower County is 74% Black and studies show that only 69% of Black mothers breastfeed their babies at birth, 16% fewer than white mothers.

There are multiple reasons why Black women are less likely to breastfeed their children. First, according to the CDC, maternity wards that serve large Black populations are less likely to help Black women initiate breastfeeding after birth or provide lactation support afterward.

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"With breastfeeding specifically, there's an assumption when [Black] women give birth that they're not going to breastfeed, and they're not offered the same kind of assistance. They're offered formulas right away. There is no attention paid to potential health risks," Andrea Freeman, law professor and author of "Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race, and Injustice," told NPR.

Black women are are also overrepresented in low-wage jobs which tend to have inflexible schedules and provide less maternity leave.

"Policies that enable taking paid leave after giving birth, flexible work schedules, and support for breastfeeding or expressing milk at work might help improve breastfeeding intention, initiation, and duration," a CDC study says.

To add to the issue, Black babies have a greater chance of being born premature or with low birth weight. "Black women have babies born too small and too soon," Kimberly Seals Allers, a maternal and infant health strategist, told PBS. "Those babies need breastmilk the most."

Research suggests that breastfed babies face a lower risk of developing diabetes, obesity, asthma, digestive tract, ear, and respiratory infections.

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The Delta Baby Cafe, supported by the Delta Health Alliance, provides support for new mothers by teaching logistical techniques, such as how to position the baby while feeding. It also provides access to breast pumps, and breastfeeding education.

"I started attending the breastfeeding classes, then it just got easier and easier," Kaylyn Walker said. "It's definitely a different experience (than with her first daughter who was bottle-ed). So like I said, I didn't plan on going this long but, you know, with my daughter, if it's something she likes then I'm okay with it. And it helps her as well with her immune system. Anything that's helping her, I'm okay with it."

The Baby Cafe's main goal is to increase the number of women in Sunflower County who breastfeed, but to also reduce the stigma associated with breastfeeding. By supporting over 80 new mothers a month and promoting breastfeeding as a women's health issue, hopefully this will increase breastfeeding numbers in the county.

"When you start by having programs and having things available for women, you begin to see that this is a part of a woman's health," says Jacqueline Lambert who launched the Baby Cafe last year. "I think most of it, the stigma, is because we just don't see it. And when you don't see a thing, you don't think it's normal."

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

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A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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via Google and Freepik

Google's new personal information removal submission page.

In the internet era, the idea of personal privacy is all but a myth. With a few keystrokes just about anyone can get your home address, phone number, email, age and the names of your family members. The fact that this information is readily available puts us all in the dangerous position of being the victim of fraud, stalking and violence.

What makes the situation even worse is that our information was put online without any of our consent.

The good news is that Google just made a big change that gives us all a little more control over our personal information. On April 27, the company announced it will allow anyone to request removals of their personal information from its Search feature.

“Open access to information is a key goal of Search, but so is empowering people with the tools they need to protect themselves and keep their sensitive, personally identifiable information private. That’s why we’re updating our policies to help people take more control of their online presence in Search,” Michelle Chang, Google’s Global Policy Lead for Search, announced on the company’s blog.

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Joy

An 8-year-old snuck his handwritten book onto a library shelf. Now it has a 56-person waiting list.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel— written by "Dillon His Self"—captured the hearts of his local librarians and their patrons.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel captured the hearts of his local librarians.

Writing a book is no easy task, even for adult professional writers. Many would-be authors dream of a day when their work can be found on library shelves, unsure if it will ever come.

But for 8-year-old Dillon Helbig, that day has already arrived—in truly unconventional fashion—thanks to his own determination to make it happen.

Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" (written by "Dillon His Self") in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads "Made in Idho" [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children's section.

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Becca Moore and Raul Torres having margaritas.

Becca Moore is a popular TikToker with over 800,000 followers who's known for her funny, laid-back takes on dating. Like any influencer-type she was at the Coachella music and arts festival in Indio, California recently. While she was at Coachella, she was robbed of her phone, rental car keys and wallet.

“I went to Coachella this weekend and I thought this guy was kinda hitting on me but then he just robbed me,” Becca says at the beginning of her three-minute TikTok video with over 3 million views. After the festival, she was left with no ride, money, or means to get in contact with friends and family. She was stranded in the desert.

Becca’s friend’s hotel called her an Uber so she could get to a local store to buy a new phone. The driver she was incredibly lucky to be connected with was a lot more than a guy with a car in a time of need, he was a guardian angel named Raul Torres from Fresno, California, six hours north of Indio.

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Joy

44 years ago he became her protector after a terrible act. Today, they've been reunited in love.

Betsy and Irv are finally getting the happy ending they deserve. Together.

It’s pretty safe to say that everyone loves a good love story.

There’s a whole genre of music and movies dedicated to the idea of someone being swept off of their feet after circumstances tried to keep them from their true love. Romance novels could single handedly keep public libraries and bookstores afloat. Everyone loves "love" and the story of Betsy and Irv just takes the cake. Betsy Sailor attended Penn State University as a business major, which was almost unheard of in 1978 and Irv Pankey attended the university while playing football. The pair’s paths never crossed, until an unfortunate incident bonded the two forever.

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@SopheAlice/TikTok

Best way to travel, really.

As they say, “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”

This old adage was brought to life in a whole new way after two friends who thought they booked tickets to Budapest, Hungary, instead found themselves heading to Bucharest, Romania.

Just a minor 500-mile difference, but who’s counting?

TikToker @SophAlice posted a video of the pair realizing their mix-up, which went viral and set them off on an impromptu adventure based entirely on the comments they received.
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