Postponing motherhood is believed to have a lot of benefits for the mother and the child; however, black mothers were questioned if they can enjoy the benefits other races do. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that there is a dramatic increase on the average age of first-time mothers among all racial groups in the U.S.
Women nowadays are having their first born at the age of 26 compared to the average age of first-time mothers last 2000 which is 24.9. According to U.S. News, among all races, black first-time moms increased the most in terms of number in six months time.
Arline Geronimus, a behavioral scientist, published a paper that suggests that black women's health tends to decline earlier than white women. According to Slate, she considered some factors such as stress, poverty and inequality that caused this phenomenon and named it as "weathering hypothesis."
Moreover, she also pointed out that young black women do not enjoy the same access towards education and career opportunity compared to other American races -- that is why she also questioned if black women who delay their pregnancy will also enjoy the benefits that other races did.
Furthermore, hospitals also less likely encouraged black women to breastfeed their babies as posted on Think Progress. Due to the fact that many of African-American women don't receive traditional healthcare services, they tend to have less knowledge regarding the health benefits breastfeeding can offer.
A study regarding infant mortality rates discovered that deaths among black women's infant are twice the number of those white resulting from mother's poor health. Many black mothers are also into jobs that do not allow them to have a chance to nurse their babies.
Additionally, African-American women do not have models of breastfeeding and parenting whom they can follow. On the other hand, black mothers have already taken matters into their own hands, launching organizations that aim to make breastfeeding and parenting less of a taboo subject.
