The therapeutic role of video diaries: A qualitative study involving breastfeeding mothers

Abstract

Background: Despite breastfeeding providing maximum health benefits to mother and baby, many women in the United Kingdom do not breastfeed, or do so briefly.Purpose: Using tenets of ethnography, this study aimed to explore the everyday experiences of first time breastfeeding mothers in the early weeks following birth.Methods: Using a camcorder, five mothers in the United Kingdom captured their real-time experiences in a video diary, until they perceived their infant feeding was established. Using a multidimensional approach to analysis, we examined how five mothers interacted with the camcorder as they shared their emotions, feelings, thoughts and actions in real-time.Findings: Mothers recorded 294 video clips, total recording time exceeded 43 hours. This paper focuses on one theme, the therapeutic role of the camcorder in qualitative research. Four subthemes are discussed highlighting the therapeutic impact of talking to the camcorder: personifying the camcorder; using the camcorder as a confidante; a sounding board; and a mirror and motivator.Conclusion. Frequent opportunities to relieve tension by talking to "someone" without interruption, judgement or advice can be therapeutic. Further research needs to explore how the video diary method can be integrated into standard postnatal care to provide benefits for a wider population.

Commercialisation and commodification of breastfeeding: video diaries by first-time mothers

“…All participating breastfeeding mothers were British Europeans aged between 20 and 29 years and cohabiting or married. Using the Standard Occupational classification [39] before the birth, the women were classified in groups 2-10 with group 10 added for unemployed/student [25].…”

“…A pilot study involved one breastfeeding mother and baby, which included assessing whether the sampling and recruitment strategy were useful, and the camcorder along with some simple guidance was an effective research tool [24]. The pilot resulted in more than 11 h of rich data which were therefore included in the main study [25]. Published studies involving video diaries recruiting between three [26] and 20 participants [27] have been shown to produce abundant data and the pilot study confirmed both the breadth and depth of data that could be collected.…”

“…The camcorder was returned to the mother after the birth when she and the full-term baby were confirmed healthy and she was breastfeeding. Three of the seven women who had consented no longer fitted the inclusion criteria [25]; one was fully formula feeding prior to discharge, one had a preterm birth, and one mother was unwell.…”

“…Whilst there were a host of emotions expressed by the participants on camera, they did not appear to be a result of recording alone but rather the result of their experience. Indeed, as reported earlier, talking to the camcorder was felt by the mothers to be a positive cathartic release [25]. However, the first author fully understood that when visiting mothers, her duty of care needed to override her role as a researcher; in the name of safety such as an obstetric emergency, immediate and appropriate action would have been delivered [78,79].…”

Qualitative Research Studies Online: Using Prompted Weekly Journal Entries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Journal-based qualitative methods in sociology were initially developed in order to facilitate entrée into ethnographic settings which the researcher might otherwise have difficulty accessing without changing the social dynamics that they wished to observe ( Zimmerman & Wieder, 1977 ). Since then, researchers have drawn on the methodology for other strengths, including its ability to be contemporaneous to the events and emotions recounted while capturing participant experiences over time ( Eidse & Turner, 2014 ; Taylor et al, 2019 ; Bolger et al, 2003 ). It allows researchers to explore nuances of experiences as well as changes that occur during the study period, and avoids recall bias ( Taylor et al, 2019 ).…”