Midwives’ Time and Presence: A Key Factor in Facilitating Breastfeeding Support for New Mothers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is now a plethora of work that has examined new mothers’ experiences of receiving breastfeeding support. However, there remains limited literature describing women’s experiences of receiving this support from midwives in the early postnatal period.AIM: The study aimed to explore and describe women’s experiences of receiving breastfeeding support from midwives in the early postnatal period.METHOD: A qualitative descriptive approach was used. Six first-time mothers who initiated breastfeeding after birth consented to be involved and participated in an in-depth interview. The techniques associated with dimensional analysis and constant comparison were used to analyze the data set.FINDINGS: Two categories were identified that described women’s experiences of midwifery breastfeeding support. These were related to the midwives’ ability to spend and give the gift of time to women. Alternatively, the midwife’s busyness and inability to be present for the woman was considered a barrier to receiving positive breastfeeding support and the woman’s ability to problem solve any breastfeeding issues.CONCLUSION: The findings of this study confirm both the importance of midwives spending time providing breastfeeding support and the negative consequences of a lack of time given for the provision of this support. Mothers have asked for midwives to be present; investing time in them, listening to them, and helping them solve problems. Current care models present barriers contributing to both the perceptions and realities of midwives’ lack of time, presenting a need to reconsider the design of maternity care environments and to adopt a caseload approach where women receive relationship-based care.

Experiences that influence how trained providers support women with breastfeeding: A systematic review of qualitative evidence

“…If providers experience under-resourcing they make decisions about care priorities and breastfeeding support is not prioritised. These findings support the work of other studies linking understaffing and lack of time with lack of breastfeeding support provision [75,79,80] and women's perceptions that providers are unable to provide breastfeeding support due to a lack of time and resources within healthcare organisations [75,77]. Funding cuts to breastfeeding support services are therefore not only detrimental to women's breastfeeding experiences [81] but also detrimental to provider development.…”

“…Full implementation and funding of evidence-based breastfeeding support interventions is imperative for providers to experience services that value breastfeeding. Consistent with the literature, participants from studies included in this review reported that working under organisational constraints, especially time pressures, impedes practice [75][76][77]. The experience of providing support in well-funded services with adequate providers available enables provision of meaningful breastfeeding support because time, training and informal learning opportunities are available.…”

Lived experiences of first-time mothers with exclusive breastfeeding in Kafue, Zambia

“…However, current care models present barriers that contribute to perceptions and realities of midwives' lack of time, probably as a result of caseloads. 109,110 All the same, this support could begin in the prenatal period and may greatly influence a first-time mother's decisions on breastfeeding. 87 The evidence suggests that midwives and other health professionals are better equipped to provide information and practical support to first-time mothers and their families.…”

Effectiveness of Using Information, Education, and Communication Flowchart Media in Implementation of Early Breastfeeding Initiation

“…16,17 The presence of midwives is an important factor in the successful implementation of EIB. 18 The provision of midwife support to pregnant women was found to increase the success of EIB implementation by 17.5 times. 19 The first hour after birth is crucial for midwives to perform EIB.…”