Experiences of breastfeeding during COVID‐19: Lessons for future practical and emotional support

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown and social distancing led to changes to breastfeeding support available to women in the United Kingdom. Face‐to‐face professional support was reduced, and face‐to‐face peer support was cancelled. Anecdotal media accounts highlighted practices separating some mothers and babies in hospitals, alongside inaccurate stories of the safety of breastfeeding circulating. Meanwhile, new families were confined to their homes, separated from families and support networks. Given that we know breastfeeding is best supported by practices that keep mother and baby together, high‐quality professional and peer‐to‐peer support, and positive maternal well‐being, it is important to understand the impact of the pandemic upon the ability to breastfeed. To explore this, we conducted an online survey with 1219 breastfeeding mothers in the United Kingdom with a baby 0–12 months old to understand the impact of the pandemic upon breastfeeding duration, experiences and support. The results highlighted two very different experiences: 41.8% of mothers felt that breastfeeding was protected due to lockdown, but 27.0% of mothers struggled to get support and had numerous barriers stemming from lockdown with some stopped breastfeeding before they were ready. Mothers with a lower education, with more challenging living circumstances and from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds were more likely to find the impact of lockdown challenging and stop breastfeeding. The findings are vital in understanding how we now support those women who may be grieving their loss of breastfeeding and are affected by their negative experiences and how we can learn from those with a positive experience to make sure all breastfeeding women are better supported if similar future events arise.

Breastfeeding during COVID-19: A Narrative Review of the Psychological Impact on Mothers

“…Although these problems were not directly related to COVID-19, their treatment was not conducted due to the pandemic [ 37 ]. The online survey by Brown and Shenker [ 13 ] conducted in the United Kingdom collected data from 1219 breastfeeding mothers (infants ≤ 12 months of age) and reported that although 18.9% ( n = 230) of the women surveyed stated to have stopped breastfeeding, this was due to other reasons unrelated to COVID-19. Although the majority of the sample was constituted by women who gave birth during the pandemic (59.4%; n = 724), the main reason presented for interrupting breastfeeding was the overall lack of professional support, regardless the time of birth (pre vs. during the pandemic).…”

“…The online survey by Brown and Shenker [ 13 ], showed that breastfeeding experiences were influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, either positively (41.8%; e.g., spending more time at home, experiencing less social pressure, and fewer visitors), negatively (27%; e.g., less perceived support, worries about safety of breastfeeding, and isolation), or neutrally (29.5%). Women who perceived the breastfeeding experience during the pandemic as more challenging were less likely to describe themselves as ready to stop breastfeeding.…”

“…When the time of birth was before the pandemic, 50.1% of women rated their experience of breastfeeding as positive, and 10.7% as negative. When giving birth after the pandemic, only 36.2% of women rated their breastfeeding experience as positive, while 34.8% rated it as negative [ 13 ].…”

“…Additionally, extensive media coverage can induce fears in new parents and clinicians related to both formula and breastfeeding practices, changing perspectives and assumptions during a global health crisis. For instance, parents who read articles on social media regarding feeding methods safety might switch their decision regarding breastfeeding or not, even when the guidelines recommend otherwise [ 13 ].…”

Shared decision‐making for infant feeding and care during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic

“…• The measures to avoid transmission, such as prolonged lockdowns, increase the prevalence of depression and anxiety during early post-partum period (Brown & Shenker, 2020;Ceulemans, Hompes, & Foulon, 2020).…”