Women's experiences of infant feeding support in the first 6 weeks post‐birth

Abstract

Research suggests women find the first 2 to 6 weeks to be the most difficult time for breastfeeding. It has been identified that women need and seek support with breastfeeding during this time. Support is a difficult concept to define. When discussed by professionals, support for breastfeeding is generally viewed in terms of providing information and educational interventions. There is little understanding of the different elements of breastfeeding support strategies and the mechanisms by which support operates. Further, there is a paucity of qualitative research specifically reporting women's experiences and expectations of professional support. This paper describes women's expectations and experiences of 'infant feeding support' provided by health professionals in the first 6 weeks post-birth. The findings are drawn from a grounded theory study exploring women's infant feeding decisions in the first 6 weeks post-birth. Participants were recruited from a variety of socio-demographic areas of Sydney and the NSW Central Coast, Australia in 2003-2004. The women in this study discussed aspects of what they considered helpful and/or unhelpful in terms of professional support. In addition, they also provided insight into aspects of interactions that were deemed important to them as new mothers learning to feed their babies. The results are presented in three sections: expecting support, experiencing support and evaluating support. The findings help to better understand components of professional practices and behaviours that can be considered supportive. The support behaviours are far more complex than simply increasing education and knowledge of infant feeding. They demonstrate the need for sensitive individualized care and show that this type of support can increase women's confidence to breastfeed.

Callers’ attitudes and experiences of UK breastfeeding helpline support

“…Other key areas of concern related to occasions where volunteers were unable to answer the callers’ questions or callers receiving what they considered to be judgmental attitudes. The need for non-judgmental attitudes and support in caring for new mothers is well reported in the literature [30,32]. On occasions when follow-up support is warranted, or required by callers, call-back services could be provided by the volunteers.…”

Empowering women to breastfeed: Does the Baby Friendly Initiative make a difference?

“…In 1991, the WHO and UNICEF (2009) launched the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) [hereafter called BFI] model of care to promote, support, and protect breastfeeding in health institutions and community settings. There is a need to better understand the experiences of mothers exposed to BFI services, as it is presented worldwide as the gold standard model of care to promote and support breastfeeding (Sheehan, Schmied, & Barclay, 2009;McInnes & Chambers, 2008). There is a need to better understand the experiences of mothers exposed to BFI services, as it is presented worldwide as the gold standard model of care to promote and support breastfeeding (Sheehan, Schmied, & Barclay, 2009;McInnes & Chambers, 2008).…”

Breast-feeding support in Ireland: a qualitative study of health-care professionals’ and women’s views

“…Midwives provide antenatal, labour and postnatal care. Once a woman is discharged from hospital, postnatal care is provided by the GP and public health nursing service.Research has shown that women face different issues when breast-feeding such as not being adequately prepared for breast-feeding (4,5) , feeling embarrassed about breast-feeding in public (6)(7)(8) , perceiving insufficient milk supply (9,10) and receiving conflicting advice that subsequently undermines their confidence (11,12) . In addition, breast-feeding has been described as a 'problematic social act' whereby women try and find a balance between the act of breast-feeding and the needs, expectations and comfort of others (13) .…”