Background Despite public health efforts to promote breastfeeding, global rates of breastfeeding continue to trail behind the goals identified by the World Health Organization. While the literature exploring breastfeeding beliefs and practices is growing, it offers various and sometimes conflicting explanations regarding women’s attitudes towards and experiences of breastfeeding. This research explores existing empirical literature regarding women’s perceptions about and experiences with breastfeeding. The overall goal of this research is to identify what barriers mothers face when attempting to breastfeed and what supports they need to guide their breastfeeding choices. Methods This paper uses a scoping review methodology developed by Arksey and O’Malley. PubMed, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, and PsychInfo databases were searched utilizing a predetermined string of keywords. After removing duplicates, papers published in 2010–2020 in English were screened for eligibility. A literature extraction tool and thematic analysis were used to code and analyze the data. Results In total, 59 papers were included in the review. Thematic analysis showed that mothers tend to assume that breastfeeding will be easy and find it difficult to cope with breastfeeding challenges. A lack of partner support and social networks, as well as advice from health care professionals, play critical roles in women’s decision to breastfeed. Conclusion While breastfeeding mothers are generally aware of the benefits of breastfeeding, they experience barriers at individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels. It is important to acknowledge that breastfeeding is associated with challenges and provide adequate supports for mothers so that their experiences can be improved, and breastfeeding rates can reach those identified by the World Health Organization.

Newcomers to Canada have been disproportionally affected by COVID-19, with higher rates of infection and severity of illness. Determinants of higher rates may relate to social and structural inequities that impact newcomers’ capacity to follow countermeasures. Our aim was to describe and document factors shaping newcomers’ acceptance of COVID-19 countermeasures. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with individuals living in Canada for <5 years. Participants were asked to discuss their pandemic experiences, and perceptions and acceptance of measures. Five themes were identified: (i) belief in the necessity and efficacy of countermeasures; (ii) negative impact of measures on health/wellbeing; (iii) existing barriers to newcomer settlement exacerbated by pandemic measures; (iv) countermeasure adherence related to immigration status and (v) past experiences shaping countermeasure acceptance. Government should continue to provide messaging regarding the importance of measures for individual and population heath and continue to demonstrate a commitment to the interests of citizens. Importantly, newcomer trust in government should not be taken for granted, as this trust is critical for the acceptance of government interventions now and moving forward. It will be important to ensure that newcomers are given support to overcome challenges to settlement that were intensified during the pandemic.

Background Despite public health efforts to promote breastfeeding, global rates of breastfeeding continue to trail behind the goals identified by the World Health Organization. While the literature exploring breastfeeding beliefs and practices is growing, it offers various, and sometimes conflicting, explanations regarding women’s attitudes towards and experiences of breastfeeding. This research explores existing empirical literature suggestions regarding women’s perceptions about and experiences with breastfeeding. The overall goal of this research is to identify what barriers mothers face when attempting to breastfeed and what supports they need to guide their breastfeeding choices. Methods This paper uses a scoping review methodology developed by Arksey and O’Malley. PubMed, CINAHL, Sociological Abstracts, and PsychInfo databases were searched utilizing a predetermined string of key words. After removing duplicates, papers published in 2010-2020 in English were screened for eligibility. A literature extraction tool and thematic analysis were used to code and analyze the data.Results In total, 59 papers were included in the review. Thematic analysis showed that mothers tend to assume that breastfeeding will be easy and find it challenging to cope with breastfeeding challenges. A lack of partner support and social networks, as well as advice from health care professionals, play critical roles in women’s decision to breastfeed. Conclusion While breastfeeding mothers are generally aware of the benefits of breastfeeding, they experience barriers at individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels. Acknowledging that breastfeeding is associated with challenges and providing adequate institutional support can improve breastfeeding rates and have a positive impact on women’s breastfeeding experiences.