Health visitors' perceptions of encouraging and supporting teenage mothers to breastfeed their babies

Abstract

There is evidence to suggest that teenage mothers require extra support with breastfeeding to break away from the cultural norm of formula feeding among this age group ( Dyson et al, 2010 ), and health visitors are well placed to offer this support. This research project explored the perceptions of health visitors who were supporting a teenage mother to breastfeed her baby, using semi-structured interviews and focus groups. A qualitative research method was undertaken using the branch of phenomenology. The sample group comprised 13 health visitors who were provisionally required to take part in the study; six were involved in the focus group and seven were interviewed individually. Results show that while support and encouragement from the health visitor are vital, it may be that the past experience, self-confidence and support systems surrounding the teenage mother bear an important influence on the findings. Issues such as maturity and socio-economic background are perhaps not as significant in this study as other research has implied. However, this was a small-scale study and generalisations cannot be made.