Lactation Advice through Texting Can Help: An Analysis of Intensity of Engagement via Two-Way Text Messaging
Abstract
Rates of breastfeeding initiation and duration among women who attend the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are dramatically lower than nonparticipants. Innovative solutions are needed to improve breastfeeding rates in this population. The Lactation Advice through Texting Can Help (LATCH) study was one such approach, designed to augment and reinforce the WIC breastfeeding peer counseling process. The purpose of the present study was to examine engagement via two-way text messaging in a sample of women attending the WIC breastfeeding peer counseling program and enrolled in LATCH. The objectives were to: (1) describe text message engagement in the context of LATCH; and (2) assess the association between engagement variables and exclusive breastfeeding status. Text messaging data were first coded qualitatively by two independent researchers and engagement variables created. An analysis of engagement was conducted using descriptive statistics for normally distributed data and binary logistic regression. In the multivariable model, intensity of engagement during the first 2 weeks post partum was the single strongest predictor of exclusive breastfeeding status. LATCH is an innovative intervention designed to enhance the capacity of breastfeeding peer counselors and holds much potential for improving exclusive breastfeeding rates in this population.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Exclusive breastfeeding and problem-solving skills were strengthened when mHealth communication was used by HCPs in one of the most urban areas of the United States.
“For example, exclusive breastfeeding and problem-solving skills were strengthened when mHealth communication was used by HCPs in one of the most urban areas of the United States [55].”
From mHealth communication to strengthen postnatal care in rural areas: a systematic review (2019) · cites this paper as [55]
Cites
Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques.
Ellis, C., Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1992) · Contemporary Sociology A Journal of Reviews · doi:10.2307/2074814 · Cited by 29,279 · see citing works
Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques
Long, D. R., Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1993) · Modern Language Journal · doi:10.2307/328955 · Cited by 17,612 · see citing works
Schwarzer, R. (2008) · Applied Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2007.00325.x · Cited by 2,569 · see citing works
Behavior change interventions delivered by mobile telephone short message service
Fjeldsoe, B. S., Marshall, A. L., & Miller, Y. D. (2009) · American Journal of Preventive Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2008.09.040 · Cited by 1,213 · see citing works
Text messaging as a tool for behavior change in disease prevention and management
Cole-Lewis, H., & Kershaw, T. (2010) · Epidemiologic Reviews · doi:10.1093/epirev/mxq004 · Cited by 1,190 · see citing works
Qualitative and Mixed Methods Provide Unique Contributions to Outcomes Research
Curry, L. A., Nembhard, I. M., & Bradley, E. H. (2009) · Circulation · doi:10.1161/circulationaha.107.742775 · Cited by 1,091 · see citing works
Mobile Text Messaging for Health: A Systematic Review of Reviews
Hall, A. K., Cole-Lewis, H., & Bernhardt, J. M. (2015) · Annual Review of Public Health · doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031914-122855 · Cited by 815 · see citing works
Toward Consistency in Breastfeeding Definitions
Labbok, M. H., & Krasovec, K. (1990) · Studies in Family Planning · doi:10.2307/1966617 · Cited by 681 · see citing works
Efficacy of text messaging-based interventions for health promotion: A meta-analysis
Head, K. J., Noar, S. M., Iannarino, N. T., & Harrington, N. G. (2013) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.08.003 · Cited by 647 · see citing works
Identification of Risk Factors for Delayed Onset of Lactation
Chapman, D. J., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (1999) · Journal of the American Dietetic Association · doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(99)00109-1 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Self-citationAnderson, A. K., Damio, G., Young, S., Chapman, D. J., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2005) · Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpedi.159.9.836 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Self-citationReview: Breastfeeding Peer Counseling: From Efficacy Through Scale-Up
Chapman, D. J., Morel, K., Anderson, A. K., Damio, G., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2010) · Journal of Human Lactation · doi:10.1177/0890334410369481 · Cited by 189 · see citing works
Self-citationEffectiveness of Breastfeeding Peer Counseling in a Low-Income, Predominantly Latina Population
Chapman, D. J., Damio, G., Young, S., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2004) · Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine · doi:10.1001/archpedi.158.9.897 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Self-citationRyan, A. S., & Zhou, W. (2006) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2005-1555 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Development and Validation of the Infant Feeding Intentions Scale
Nommsen‐Rivers, L. A., & Dewey, K. G. (2008) · Maternal and Child Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10995-008-0356-y · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Breastfeeding Among Minority Women: Moving From Risk Factors to Interventions
Chapman, D. J., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2012) · Advances in Nutrition · doi:10.3945/an.111.001016 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Self-citationNommsen‐Rivers, L. A., Chantry, C. J., Cohen, R. J., & Dewey, K. G. (2009) · Breastfeeding Medicine · doi:10.1089/bfm.2009.0052 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
Early Formula Supplementation of Breast-Feeding
Kurinij, N., & Shiono, P. H. (1991) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.88.4.745 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Partridge, S. R., Allman-Farinelli, M. A., McGeechan, K., Balestracci, K., Wong, A. T. Y., Hebden, L., Harris, M., Bauman, A. E., & Phongsavan, P. (2016) · International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity · doi:10.1186/s12966-016-0329-2 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
Irvine, L. A., Falconer, D. W., Jones, C., Ricketts, I. W., Williams, B., & Crombie, I. K. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052621 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Jensen, E. T. (2011) · Maternal and Child Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10995-011-0796-7 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Martinez‐Brockman, J. L., Harari, N., Segura‐Pérez, S., Goeschel, L., Bozzi, V., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2018) · Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2017.09.001 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Self-citationChapman, D. J., Damio, G., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2004) · Journal of Human Lactation · doi:10.1177/0890334404269845 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Self-citationPrice, S. N., Ferisin, S., Sharifi, M., Steinberg, D., Bennett, G. G., Wolin, K. Y., Horan, C. M., Koziol, R., Marshall, R., & Taveras, E. M. (2015) · Journal of Health Communication · doi:10.1080/10810730.2015.1018582 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
The Impact of Peripartum Factors on the Onset and Duration of Lactation
Sievers, E., Haase, S., Oldigs, H., & Schaub, J. (2003) · Neonatology · doi:10.1159/000069485 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Martinez‐Brockman, J. L., Shebl, F. M., Harari, N., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2017) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.04.014 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Self-citationRising Infant Formula Costs to the WIC Program: Recent Trends in Rebates and Wholesale PricesPreprint
Oliveira, V., Frazão, E., & Smallwood, D. M. (2010) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · doi:10.22004/ag.econ.59384 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Devine, S., Leeds, C., Shlay, J. C., Leytem, A. R., Beum, R., & Bull, S. S. (2015) · Journal of Biomedical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.jbi.2015.07.003 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
National Academies of Sciences, E. (2015) · National Academies Press eBooks · doi:10.17226/21832 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Support for healthy breastfeeding mothers with healthy term babies
Gavine, A. J., Shinwell, S., Buchanan, P., Farré, A., Wade, A. M., Lynn, F. A., Marshall, J. L., Cumming, S., Dare, S., & McFadden, A. (2022) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd001141.pub6 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Theoretical Advancements in mHealth: A Systematic Review of Mobile Apps
Chib, A., & Lin, S. H. (2018) · Journal of Health Communication · doi:10.1080/10810730.2018.1544676 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
mHealth communication to strengthen postnatal care in rural areas: a systematic review
Mbuthia, F., Reid, M., & Fichardt, A. (2019) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/s12884-019-2531-0 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Eppes, E. V., Augustyn, M., Gross, S. J., Vernon, P., Caulfield, L. E., & Paige, D. M. (2022) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/40934 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Feldacker, C., Holeman, I., Murenje, V., Xaba, S., Korir, M., Wambua, B., Makunike-Chikwinya, B., Holec, M. M., Barnhart, S., & Tshimanga, M. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0233234 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Engaging African American Parents to Develop a Mobile Health Technology for Breastfeeding: KULEA-NET
Patchen, L., Ellis, L., Harrington, C. B., Ma, T., Mohanraj, R., Andrews, V., & Evans, W. D. (2020) · Journal of Human Lactation · doi:10.1177/0890334420930208 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Sutter, C., Fiese, B. H., Lundquist, A., Davis, E. C., McBride, B. A., & Donovan, S. M. (2018) · Breastfeeding Medicine · doi:10.1089/bfm.2018.0056 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Burns, E., Duursma, L., & Triandafilidis, Z. (2020) · International Breastfeeding Journal · doi:10.1186/s13006-020-00345-1 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Lewkowitz, A. K., Raghuraman, N., López, J. D., Macones, G. A., & Cahill, A. G. (2018) · American Journal of Perinatology · doi:10.1055/s-0038-1676485 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
E-health Dietary Interventions for Participants of SNAP and WIC: A Systematic Review
Crespo‐Bellido, M., Ong, J. F., Yaroch, A. L., & Shanks, C. B. (2024) · Current Developments in Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.cdnut.2024.102099 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Melov, S. J., White, L., Simmons, M., Kirby, A. C., Stulz, V. M., Padmanabhan, S., Alahakoon, T. I., Pasupathy, D., & Cheung, N. W. (2022) · Midwifery · doi:10.1016/j.midw.2022.103262 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Xie, R., Tan, H., Taljaard, M., Liao, Y., Krewski, D. R., Du, Q., & Wen, S. W. (2018) · JMIR mhealth and uhealth · doi:10.2196/11213 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Big Data and Dysmenorrhea: What Questions Do Women and Men Ask About Menstrual Pain?
Chen, C. X., Groves, D. J., Miller, W. R., & Carpenter, J. S. (2018) · Journal of Women s Health · doi:10.1089/jwh.2017.6732 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Martinez‐Brockman, J. L., Harari, N., Goeschel, L., Bozzi, V., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2019) · Maternal and Child Nutrition · doi:10.1111/mcn.12904 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationInfant Feeding Tracker Applications: Cross-Sectional Analysis of Use
Dinour, L. M. (2022) · Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2022.03.012 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Mbuthia, F. W., Reid, M., & Fichardt, A. (2021) · International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.ijans.2021.100304 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Duong, D. T. T., Tran, C. T., Pham, N. M., Zhao, Y., Dinh, T. P. H., Hoai, N. X., Lee, A. H., Binns, C. W., & Ha, B. T. T. (2023) · International Breastfeeding Journal · doi:10.1186/s13006-023-00543-7 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
STOTZ, S. A., Lee, J. S., & Thompson, J. J. (2021) · Digital Health · doi:10.1177/20552076211014978 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Yuhas, M., Brock, D. P., Ritterband, L. M., Chow, P. I., Porter, K., & Zoellner, J. (2023) · Digital Health · doi:10.1177/20552076231160324 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Cunningham, K., Cech, S., Gupta, A. S., Rana, P. P., Humphries, D. L., & Frongillo, E. A. (2024) · Maternal and Child Nutrition · doi:10.1111/mcn.13702 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Chancay, J., Gross, S. M., Koegel, K., Pompa, C., Eppes, E. V., Kang, Y., Augustyn, M., Castellanos-Brown, K., Paige, D. M., & Caulfield, L. E. (2024) · Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · doi:10.1016/j.jand.2024.07.163 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Brock, D. P., Yuhas, M., Porter, K., Chow, P. I., Ritterband, L. M., Tate, D. F., & Zoellner, J. (2023) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu15081957 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Robert, R. C., Moody, N. G., Woody, E., Kuehn, D., Thompson, P., & Roess, A. (2024) · Public Health Nursing · doi:10.1111/phn.13316 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Martinez‐Brockman, J. L., Granner, J. R., Buchanan, B., Acosta, L., Lonczak, M., Goeschel, L., Xu, X. J., Curry, L. A., Nuñez-Smith, M., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2025) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0313779 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationImpact of a Mobile Health Intervention to Support Exclusive Breastfeeding: A Scoping Review
Nor, T. F. N. T. K., & Wee, B. S. (2013) · Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences · doi:10.47836/mjmhs.19.2.43 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Lee, J. (2025) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/78984 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Education is Key for Increasing Breastfeeding Duration Among Working Mothers
Needels, M. S. (2019) · Clinical Lactation · doi:10.1891/2158-0782.10.3.121 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Is Exclusive Breastfeeding Dangerous?
Walker, M. (2018) · Clinical Lactation · doi:10.1891/2158-0782.9.4.171
Yuhas, M., Brock, D. P., Ritterband, L. M., Chow, P. I., Porter, K., & Zoellner, J. (2021) · doi:10.2196/preprints.35856
Duong, D. T. T., Tran, C. T., Pham, N. M., Zhao, Y., Dinh, T. P. H., Hoai, N. X., Lee, A. H., Binns, C. W., & Ha, B. T. T. (2020) · doi:10.2196/preprints.26206
Martinez‐Brockman, J. L., Granner, J. R., Acosta, L., Buchanan, B., Lonczak, M., Goeschel, L., Xu, X., Curry, L. A., Nuñez-Smith, M., & Pérez‐Escamilla, R. (2026) · Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jneb.2026.04.006
Self-citation
- Authors
- Martinez-Brockman, J. L., Harari, N., & Pérez-Escamilla, R.
- Affiliations
- School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Indian Health Service (US)
- School of Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- ORCID
- Harari, N.
- Venue
- Journal of Health Communication
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-12-13
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 40-51
- ISSN
- 1081-0730 (ISSN-L)
- 1087-0415
- OpenAlex
- W2775523540
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 6 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Health Communication (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Food and Nutrition Service (WIC NEI-12-TX)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Breastfeeding Practices and Influences
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
- Keywords
- breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, WIC program, mobile health, postpartum women, breastfeeding counseling
- MeSH terms
- Breast Feeding, Counseling, Female, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Lactation, Pregnancy, Text Messaging
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review