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A research scientist at Michigan Tech is looking into trends concerning breastfeeding in the Upper Peninsula.
Dr. Kelly Kamm works in MTU’s Department of Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology and she saw that data about UP mom’s and breastfeeding was severely lacking.
Kamm said, “So we have a lot of data about what’s going on in urban areas, but we don’t have that kind of data about what’s going on in rural areas, and while some of the information may be very similar—there might be the same reasons why mom’s do or don’t breastfeed here in the UP as opposed to those urban areas—but there also might be very different why they do.”
So she started gathering surveys from local mothers and health providers to see just how breastfeeding was viewed in the UP.
Statistics show that although the UP appears to be above the state average, the number of women breastfeeding drops significantly after two months.
There is also the possibility that the more rural an area is, the less likely mothers are to breastfeed.
Participants have until June 1st to take the survey to be entered into a drawing for a $20 gift card, though Dr. Kamm will still be willing to collect data after that.
She will spend this summer analyzing the information she has and then seeing how it can be put to use.
“The next step of the research which is then is to develop some programs that we can put into practice in the community and test how well those programs work to do the same thing—to both improve initiation of breastfeeding and duration of breastfeeding,” said Kamm.
Surveys for moms can be found here.
Surveys for healthcare providers can be found here.
You can also have a paper copy of the survey mailed to you. For more information, call (906) 275-8489 or email kbkamm@mtu.edu.
