Cascading Disasters, Perinatal Wellbeing, and Infant Feeding Practices in South Alabama.

This study examines how cascading disasters—defined as environmental disruptions causing unexpected secondary events—affect perceptions of perinatal wellbeing and infant feeding practices in south Alabama, a region prone to hurricanes and tornadoes. Ethnographic research with perinatal healthcare providers and birth parents during the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 hurricane season revealed that systemic challenges, notably the absence of paid parental leave and limited community-based lactation support, had a greater impact on breastfeeding and formula-feeding decisions than the disasters themselves. Participants described how these structural inequities, compounded by poverty and racism, forced birth parents to balance infant feeding goals with their own mental health and economic realities. The findings highlight the need for robust federal and state policies, including paid parental leave and expanded lactation support, to improve perinatal health outcomes and support infant feeding practices independent of disaster contexts.