Midwives’ lived experience of caring for new mothers with initial breastfeeding difficulties: A phenomenological study

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to obtain a deeper understanding of midwives’ lived experiences of caring for new mothers with initial breastfeeding difficulties. MethodsA reflective lifeworld approach was used. Six midwives were recruited from a hospital in western Sweden. Data were collected via individual lifeworld interviews and analysed using phenomenological methods. ResultsThe essential meaning can be described as a midwife’s wish to help new mothers reach their breastfeeding goals by trying to interact with them as individual women in unique breastfeeding situations. This wish constitutes a contradiction to the midwife’s own desire to succeed in enabling mothers to breastfeed and the perceived risk of failure as a midwife if the mothers decide not to breastfeed. This is further described by five constituents: striving to provide individualised care, collegial and personal responsibility both enables and prevents care, a struggle to be sufficient, an uphill struggle and mutual joy becomes the motivation to care. ConclusionsCaring for new mothers with initial breastfeeding difficulties is a balancing act between the midwife’s personal desire to succeed in enabling mothers to breastfeed, the mothers’ wishes, the infants’ needs, the importance of collective collegial competence and the limitations in the health care organisation. This makes the midwife's efforts to provide individualised care frustrating and demanding as well as motivating.