“The kind of support that matters to exclusive breastfeeding” a qualitative study

Abstract

Background Worldwide, only 41 % of infants are exclusively breastfed for the first six months while South Africa has an alarming figure of only 12 %. First-time mothers are inexperienced in the initiation and maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding, hence a need for support. Data on forms and quality of exclusive breastfeeding support as experienced by first-time mothers is minimal. The study explored the exclusive breastfeeding support available to first-time mothers in the Buffalo City Metro, South Africa. Methods A qualitative explorative, descriptive and contextual study, and a non-probability, purposive sampling was used with 10 first-time mothers within the first six months postpartum. The in-depth face-to-face semi-structured individual interviews for data collection and Creswell’s steps of thematic analysis were used. Results Two themes emerged; challenges, empowerment, support and resilience during initiation of exclusive breastfeeding, and diverse support and resilience during maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding. First-time mothers received practical support majorly from nurses and other mothers during the initiation; social support was from family members, friends, and community members for the maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding. Sometimes there was a disjuncture between practical support from nurses and that from family members and the community. There were instances where the support was needed but not given or not supportive of exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusions These findings illustrate that professional, practical and social support for first-time mothers is crucial in the initiation and maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. Timing and the kind of support given to these mothers is crucial for successful exclusive breastfeeding.

Exclusive breastfeeding practice and sources of support during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia

“…Family provides mothers the values and beliefs in breastfeeding practices [33]. This different finding might happen because mothers are able to decide which family supports they should accept or reject, especially for the supports that mothers considered harmful to the breastfeeding practices and maintaining exclusive breastfeeding [39].…”

Facilitators and Barriers to Breastfeeding Practices of Mothers in a Selected Urban Community in Malaysia

“…A review on breastfeeding among overweight and obese mothers found that these group of mothers are embarrassed to breastfeed in public because of the fear of exposing their body to others (Chang et al 2020). A study in Australia among breastfeeding mothers also reported that mothers often feel uncomfortable to breastfeed in public as they constantly need to avoid male gazing at them or people coming to see the baby while they are breastfeeding (Sheehan et al 2019). Hence, they often cover up and this led to them feeling scared of suffocating their child or afraid that their child is not being fed properly.…”

“…Hence, they often cover up and this led to them feeling scared of suffocating their child or afraid that their child is not being fed properly. This discomfort remains a barrier in many countries in which social norm include them to cover themselves up properly if they breastfeed in public (Coomson & Aryeetey 2018;Sheehan et al 2019). It is important to create awareness among public and breastfeeding mothers in order to provide a comfortable environment for mothers to breastfeed to support breastfeeding.…”

Social Support for Breastfeeding Practice During the COVID-19 Second Wave in Thailand: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…When social networking is applied to breastfeeding practices, nurses have been found to provide instrumental or practical support during breastfeeding initiation, while family members, friends, and community members provide support for the maintenance of EBF ( Theodorah & Mc’Deline, 2021 ). Among adolescent mothers, health professional support has been viewed as the most important factor influencing EBF at 6 months, while family conflict can create barriers to receiving positive support ( Nuampa et al, 2019 ).…”