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Today kicks off Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. Observed annually in May, AANHPI Heritage Month is a time to reflect upon and celebrate the remarkable role of the AANHPI community.
In honor of AANHPI month, we would like to spotlight the AANHPI Lactation Collaborative. This collaborative, which includes our very own Cindy Young, is a joint workgroup made up of AANHPI lactation professionals, public health workers, students, and retired lactation professionals from California.
The group evolved from a joint effort between the Asian Pacific Islander Breastfeeding Task Force (APIBTF) of Los Angeles and the Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander Task Force (ASAP!) of Alameda County to apply for a grant. Despite not receiving funding, the group was able to begin the AANHPI national landscape analysis originally proposed on the grant application with the support of three student interns and two individuals with decades of experience working towards equity in the AANHPI lactation field.
The AANHPI community is facing silence and invisibility due to data gaps and the collaborative is working hard to change that. It is difficult to paint an accurate picture of what breastfeeding, chestfeeding, and human milk feeding look like in these communities. The little data we have is often aggregated into a general “AANHPI” category, which masks the diversity of this community and the disparities in health outcomes. You can read more on the importance of disaggregating data here.
We invite you to join us in celebrating the AANHPI community all month long!
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