Breast-feeding support in Ireland: a qualitative study of health-care professionals’ and women’s views

Abstract

Objective: To examine women's experience of professional support for breastfeeding and health-care professionals' experience of providing support. Design: We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews among women with experience of breast-feeding and health-care professionals with infant feeding roles. Interviews with women were designed to explore their experience of support for breast-feeding antenatally, in hospital and postnatally. Interviews with health-care professionals were designed to explore their views on their role and experience in providing breast-feeding support. Interview transcripts were analysed using content analysis and aspects of Grounded Theory. Overarching themes and categories within the two sets were identified. Setting: Urban and suburban areas of North Dublin, Ireland. Subjects: Twenty-two women all of whom had experience of breast-feeding and fifty-eight health-care professionals. Results: Two overarching themes emerged and in each of these a number of categories were developed: theme 1, facilitators to breast-feeding support, within which being facilitated to breast-feed, having the right person at the right time, being discerning and breast-feeding support groups were discussed; and theme 2, barriers to breast-feeding support, within which time, conflicting information, medicalisation of breast-feeding and the role of health-care professionals in providing support for breast-feeding were discussed. Conclusions: Breast-feeding is being placed within a medical model of care in Ireland which is dependent on health-care professionals. There is a need for training around breast-feeding for all health-care professionals; however, they are limited in their support due to external barriers such as lack of time. Alternative support such as peer support workers should be provided. Keywords Breast-feeding Professional support Mothers' experience IrelandDespite recommendations from the WHO that infants be breast-fed for the first 6 months of life with the introduction of complementary food thereafter and continued breast-feeding for 2 years or longer (1) , the rate of breastfeeding initiation in Ireland remains one of the lowest in Europe with only 55 % of women initiating breast-feeding at birth (2) . Breast-feeding is a learned behaviour and women often depend on health-care professionals for support. This is particularly the case in countries where there is not a culture of breast-feeding, such as in Ireland (3) . Current maternity services in Ireland are free to all women under the Maternity and Infant Scheme which entitles every woman to care from a general practitioner (GP) and hospital obstetrician. Midwives provide antenatal, labour and postnatal care. Once a woman is discharged from hospital, postnatal care is provided by the GP and public health nursing service.Research has shown that women face different issues when breast-feeding such as not being adequately prepared for breast-feeding (4,5) , feeling embarrassed about breast-feeding in public (6)(7)(8) , perceiving in...

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