Using video narratives of women's lived experience of breastfeeding in midwifery education: exploring its impact on midwives' attitudes to breastfeeding

Abstract

Strong evidence supports the health benefits of breastfeeding contributing to the public health campaign to improve initiation and duration of breastfeeding globally, yet breastfeeding continuation rates are persistently low in the UK. Inadequate support from health professionals appears to be an underlying feature, aggravated by a dearth of professional education that uses a biopsychosocial approach. This paper describes how using women's video narratives of their lived experience of breastfeeding within higher education impacted positively on the attitudes of a group of midwives in relation to supporting breastfeeding women. It reports on the qualitative element of a two-phase sequential mixed methods study where focus group methods generated rich data about how and why the educational intervention altered attitudes. Analysis was thematic. Six major themes emerged, 'listening and learning from real women's experiences'; 'generation of emotions'; 'acquisition of new knowledge and learning'; 'reflection on practice'; 'promotion of independent learning' and 'sharing learning and ideas with peers'. 'Listening and learning from real women's experiences' was central to learning, and was pivotal to attitudinal change, motivating an intense need to improve practice. Findings support the value of using women's video narratives within midwifery education, through their power to integrate affective and cognitive learning, and to promote a transformative learning process. This novel approach brings value-added learning benefits by enhancing the potential to improve attitudes towards supporting breastfeeding women and improving clinical practice.