‘It should be the most natural thing in the world’: exploring first-time mothers' breastfeeding difficulties in the UK using audio-diaries and interviews (original) (raw)

The private journey: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of exclusive breastfeeding

Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives, 2018

Exclusive breast milk provides complete nutrition for a baby's first six months of life. In Australia, breastfeeding initiation rates are high, however duration rates are low. Although numerous studies have explored the reasons behind low levels of breastfeeding, few have examined the experiences of women who maintain exclusive breastfeeding for the recommended six-month duration. This paper will present an in-depth, idiographic interpretation of first-time mothers' experience of exclusive breastfeeding for six months in Australia. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to explore how five new mothers understood their six-month exclusive breastfeeding journey. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were conducted retrospectively, transcribed in full, and analysed using the flexible seven-step approach of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three higher-order themes were identified: (1) exclusive breastfeeding is a personal choice, (2) exclusive breastfeedi...

Talking about breastfeeding: emotion, context and ‘good’ mothering

The benefits of breastfeeding are now recognised and promoted by governments and healthcare services internationally (WHO 2007), with feeding regarded as a significant part of the maternalrole: in the words of the World Health Organization: ‘no gift is more preciousthan breastfeeding’.The idea that breastfeeding can be a ‘gift’signifiesthe increasing, heavy cultural and emotional load of feeding for mothers. Feeding practices can be used to differentiate ‘good’ and ‘bad’ mothers, ‘high’ or‘low’social status and can also be associated with feelings of intimacy, estrangement, guilt, joy, failure orsuccess. In this article we discussthe findingsfrom the Open University's‘Becoming a Mother’ study (www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/ identities/findings/Hollway.pdf) in the light of these widerissues and current policy initiatives.The study examined the personal experience of becoming a motherforthe first time, among a socio-economically and ethnically diverse sample of women in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. In drawing upon mothers’ own accounts of breastfeeding, we highlight the importance of the role of midwivesin three main aspects of early motherhood: antenatal care and the recognition of women’s emotional investmentsin breastfeeding; establishing feeding in the first few hours and days of motherhood; and in home visits where engagement with the role of the wider family and the physical and social environment of households can be used to better understand and support feeding practices

Mothers’ breastfeeding experiences and implications for professionals

Twenty percent of babies in the UK are receiving breast milk at the recommended six months, suggesting that long-term breastfeeding is untenable for many mothers. This manuscript reviews research on breastfeeding experiences and offers an analysis of six mothers' experiences of initiating and ceasing or continuing breastfeeding. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to understand how they made sense of their breastfeeding experiences. All had breastfed in the last year, had similar socioeconomic backgrounds, and varied in their breastfeeding durations from up to 1 month, for 1-6 months and 6+ months. Three master themes emerged: 1) reality of breastfeeding was highly discrepant from expectations, 2) the role of others in sustaining breastfeeding, and 3) feelings of guilt. Breastfeeding promotions that focus on biological benefits of breastfeeding without regard for psychosocial factors create a moral dilemma for mothers. Educational and counselling interventions using a biopsychosocial perspective can help mothers make informed feeding decisions.

Researcher perspectives from a study of women’s experiences of breastfeeding

Nurse Researcher, 2016

Background This paper discusses the use of diaries as a research tool to explore women's experiences of breastfeeding. Aim A phenomenological methodology was used to explore women's experiences of breastfeeding in the first 6-8 weeks after giving birth. The challenges and issues that can arise when using diaries are discussed here. Data sources The study was conducted in an East Midlands region of the UK. Volunteer pregnant primiparous women over 34 week's gestation were recruited to the study. In total 22 primigravid women completed a written diary for analysis. Mothers were encouraged to record something in their diary once a day about their infant feeding experience. Findings Using diaries provides a unique opportunity to capture the lived experiences of participants. In addition to being an accepted data collection method, the participants found the diaries acted as a reflective mechanism. Participants found that it allowed them an opportunity to describe their feelings and emotions, particularly if their infant feeding experiences was not as they had anticipated. Conclusions Diaries provide a useful insight into a social and health phenomenon that is often not captured in qualitative studies and are complementary to methods that are more commonly used, for example interviews. Diaries provide a unique opportunity for participants to share their lived experiences in a contemporaneous way and could be utilised more effectively in other qualitative or mixed methods health studies.

Elliott H, Gunaratnam Y. Talking about breastfeeding: emotion, context and 'good' mothering

In this article we discuss the findings from the Open University's ‘Becoming a Mother’ study (www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/ identities/findings/Hollway.pdf) in the light of social policy initiatives on breast feeding. The study examined the personal experience of becoming a mother for the first time, among a socio-economically and ethnically diverse sample of women in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. In drawing upon mothers’ own accounts of breastfeeding, we highlight the importance of the role of midwives in three main aspects of early motherhood: antenatal care and the recognition of women’s emotional investments in breastfeeding; establishing feeding in the first few hours and days of motherhood; and in home visits where engagement with the role of the wider family and the physical and social environment of households can be used to better understand and support feeding practices.

Expressing yourself: a feminist analysis of talk around expressing breast milk

Social science & medicine (1982), 2009

Recent feminist analyses, particularly from those working within a poststructuralist framework, have highlighted a number of historically located and contradictory socio-cultural constructions and practices which women are faced with when negotiating infant feeding, especially breastfeeding, within contemporary western contexts. However, there has been little explicit analysis of the practice of expressing breast milk. The aim of this article is to explore the embodied practice of expressing breast milk. This is done by analysing, from a feminist poststructuralist perspective, discourse surrounding expressing breast milk in sixteen first time mothers' accounts of early infant feeding. Participants were recruited from a hospital in the South Midlands of England. The data are drawn from the first phase of a larger longitudinal study, during which mothers kept an audio diary about their breastfeeding experiences for seven days following discharge from hospital, and then took part i...