Expectations and Experiences of Spanish Primiparous Women Who Decide to Breastfeed Their Infants and Strategies for Change in 2020-A Qualitative Study.

Antonio Hernández-Martínez,Francisco José García-Sanchez,Miguel Ángel Puebla-Martín,José Miguel Quirós-García,David Rodríguez-Almagro,Julián Rodríguez-Almagro

doi:10.3390/nursrep12010018

Antonio Hernández-Martínez, Francisco José García-Sanchez + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep12010018

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Abstract

To describe the experiences and expectations of Spanish women regarding breastfeeding and the support they receive from healthcare professionals, family, and friends during the breastfeeding journey, A qualitative study using an empirical-phenomenological approach was conducted. Primiparous women that had already given birth were interviewed using a purposive and snowball sampling. In-depth interviews were conducted between 1 January and 30 April 2020. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Haase’s adaptation of Colaizzi’s phenomenological method. We recruited 14 women who had recently become mothers. Three major themes describing experiences of infant feeding by maternal lactation were identified—institutional influences, establishing breastfeeding, and cessation of breastfeeding—as well as the following 10 categories: hospital routines, lactation concerns (amount and infant nutrition), antenatal breastfeeding decision, embarrassment to breastfeed, and normalisation of breastfeeding. Prior education and support were identified as key elements in possible breastfeeding support strategies.

Highlights

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recommend that breastfeeding is started within the first hour after birth, is continued exclusively for the first six months of life, and maintained along with supplementary feeding until age two or older [1]
Breastfeeding is generally viewed favourably among European women [15], but breastfeeding behaviours are routinely assessed in worldwide capacities, and the WHO for the European Region has the lowest rates of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), with less than 25% of infants exclusively breastfed within the first six months of life [16]
The results show us that the hospital environment influenced the infant and the mother’s experience of feeding her children; while some mothers felt influenced by the processes and technological environment, others felt appreciative of the role that nurses played in informing them regarding infant feeding with breastfeeding [32–34]

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recommend that breastfeeding is started within the first hour after birth, is continued exclusively for the first six months of life, and maintained along with supplementary feeding until age two or older [1]. Breastfeeding initiation rates are high, early discontinuation is common in different countries [2–4]. The benefits of breastfeeding (BF), especially exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), have been widely recognised [5–11]. Rates for EBF continue to be low worldwide—only 36% of babies under 6 months receive EBF [12,14]. Breastfeeding is generally viewed favourably among European women [15], but breastfeeding behaviours are routinely assessed in worldwide capacities, and the WHO for the European Region has the lowest rates of EBF, with less than 25% of infants exclusively breastfed within the first six months of life [16]

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Conclusion