Discursive Constructions of Breastfeeding in US State Laws

    Authors

    S. K. Carter;J. McCutcheon

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Women Health

    Keywords

    breastfeeding; legislation; reproductive health; motherhood; pregnancy; UNITED-STATES; DISCOURSE; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Women's Studies

    Abstract

    Previous research has identified several ways that breastfeeding is constructed in public discourses, each with consequences for breastfeeding attitudes, policies, and practices. Researchers analyzed discursive constructions of breastfeeding in U.S. state laws regarding breastfeeding in public to see if common representations were replicated in law and to identify patterns among states that used similar language. Results indicated that laws varied in the level of protection they offered, with the least protective laws decriminalizing breastfeeding in public and the most protective laws criminalizing interference with breastfeeding. The least protective states were located in the Western and North-Central regions, Republican-leaning, and less urban, whereas the most protective states were located in the New England and North-Central regions, Democrat-leaning, and more urban. Most states that fell on either end of this continuum had breastfeeding rates above the national average. Laws also varied in the level of regulation implied in their language, with the most regulative laws specifying that a mother can breastfeed her baby only in certain places and under certain conditions (discreetly). The most regulative states were located in the Southern and North-Central regions and had low breastfeeding rates, whereas the least regulative states were Western and had high breastfeeding rates.

    Journal Title

    Women & Health

    Volume

    53

    Issue/Number

    4

    Publication Date

    1-1-2013

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    419

    Last Page

    437

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000320099100006

    ISSN

    0363-0242

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