Online social support group use by breastfeeding mothers: A content analysis

Abstract

BackgroundBreastfeeding is a public health priority and lack of breastfeeding support a contributing factor to the low initiation and continuation rates in the UK. Online social support groups are being increasingly utilised by breastfeeding mothers and research into this phenomenon is only now emerging.AimTo document and describe the posts made within an online breastfeeding support group.MethodThe posts made to an online breastfeeding social support group between 1st and 7th November 2016 were recorded using an unobtrusive non-participant design, and subject to systematic message content analysis. Themes relating to topics of discussion were deduced from the data and concepts of social support used to analyse the data.ResultsThe group received 501 posts over the week (m = 72, range 20–93 a day) and was accessed 24 hours a day. Eighty-two percent of posts received comments (m = 12, range 0–415, SD = 24) and 93% received likes (m = 11, range = 0–641, SD 42). The group was used from pregnancy and until the child was over two years old. The majority of infants discussed were aged 6 weeks to 6 months. Informational support was the greatest reason for use (65%), followed by esteem support (18%) and emotional support (10%). Thirteen topics of conversations were identified.ConclusionMothers are using online social support groups in their thousands to seek information from people in similar situations. Not only do they pose questions but they discuss a range of parenting and breastfeeding topics in an environment that aims to support and facilitate responses. The impact of this support avenue within the wider context of professional, family and offline support warrants further investigation through a qualitative approach.

Use of new technologies and promotion of breastfeeding: integrative literature review

“…They equally verified that some of the participants, whose relatives lived in other countries, used Skype or the telephone. On the other hand, the participants in the studies carried out by Wennberg et al, 17 Araújo et al, 19 Bridges et al, 20 Dewanti et al, 21 Rezaallah et al 22 and Wagg et al 23 observed posts that were published in online forums, the use of WhatsApp as an education tool and health promotion among pregnant women, in prenatal care, closed Facebook groups about breastfeeding support and online groups that support mothers.…”

“…“Balance between social expectations and confidence in your parental skills”, “Making an effort to be a good mother”, “Making an effort for your own well-being”, and “Making an effort to find your own path” are emphasized by Wenberg et al. 17 On the other hand, Araújo et al, 19 Dewanti et al, 21 Rezaallah et al 22 and Wagg et al 23 stated that the study participants showed doubt regarding the changes in the different gestational periods, diet, sexual activity during pregnancy, self-medication, oral health, vaccines during pregnancy, tests, body and emotional changes, child care, breastfeeding, types of delivery, importance of family support, physical activities, vaccination of the child and maternal and child care network.…”

“… 14 , 19 It allows the support of child nutrition in geographically distant populations 16 and informs pregnant women not only about pregnancy itself, but also about delivery, the postpartum period, breastfeeding, child nutrition 18 and child care. 21 , 23 It is a mean that enables to share fears, concerns and exchange experiences between pregnant women of different ages and gestational periods 19 to get emotional help, encouragement, besides being a way to socialize with other mothers. 21 …”

Knowledge mobilization tool to promote, protect, and support breastfeeding during COVID-19

“…Literature underscores that mothers may access online breastfeeding resources for a variety of reasons, such as a lack of familial, informational, or professional support. A study conducted in the United Kingdom looked at the active participation of women in an online breastfeeding support group and found the main reasons for accessing the online support group were for informational support, as well as esteem and emotional support (Wagg et al, 2019). Parents may rely more heavily on electronic support groups and online information when face-toface opportunities for interaction are not possible.…”

Perspectives to social media usage of depressed patients and caregivers affecting to change the health behavior of patients in terms of information and perceived privacy risks

“…Over the past few years, the presentation of content on SM has been presented to affect mental health. When users read harmful contents as a result of feeling negative emotions (Aladwani, 2017;Lin and Utz, 2015;Sagioglou and Greitemeyer, 2014), they will compare themselves with others (Jang et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2017), breastfeeding (Wagg et al, 2019), resulting in jealousy linked to depression (Appel et al, 2016;Banjanin et al, 2015). This also affects health and requires intervention in various health behaviors including weight loss (Hales, Davidson and Turner-McGrievy, 2014) (Dahl, Hales and Turner-McGrievy, 2016), risky sexual behavior (Young and Jordan, 2013), eating (Branley and Covey, 2017), and helping predict other health risk behaviors (Moreno et al, 2011;Zhou et al, 2017).…”