Breastfeeding Promotion Campaign Research Articles

Social media intervention for promoting breastfeeding among WIC participants.

Social media have emerged as a promising communication channel for promoting breastfeeding among a new generation of mothers. Yet, there is no published study reporting the effects of a large-scale social media intervention on key breastfeeding-related perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. As a component of its breastfeeding promotion campaign, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program implemented a 12-month intervention using Facebook and Instagram and subsequently evaluated the outcomes by surveying WIC-participating women (N = 832) twice, immediately before and after the intervention. Based on their level of exposure to the intervention messages, the women were retrospectively classified into two groups, resulting in a two-group (no-low exposure vs. medium-high exposure) quasi-experiment. Women in the medium-high exposure group, in comparison with women in the no-low exposure group, exhibited higher campaign awareness (p < .001), visits to the campaign website (p < .001), and engagement with the website content (p < .001). They also reported more positive breastfeeding attitudes (M = 17.26 vs. M = 16.51, p < .05), self-efficacy (M = 54.48 vs. M = 49.94, p < .01), and social support (M = 27.37 vs. M = 25.11, p < .001). But they did not differ from women in the no-low exposure group in breastfeeding initiation (p > .05) and duration (p > .05). In conclusion, a social media-based intervention resulted in more positive breastfeeding attitudes, higher self-efficacy, and higher perceived social support. Future studies need to investigate the optimal level of intervention message dosage that prompts significant behavioral changes.

The Content and Sources of Breastfeeding Knowledge for New Mothers in the Netherlands

Background: In the context of decreasing breastfeeding rates and unsuccessful breastfeeding promotion campaigns, a qualitative research project in the Northern part of the Netherlands was initiated. Objectives: As part of the overall project, the aim of this study was to explore the content and sources of breastfeeding knowledge among primiparous women. Identifying and categorizing the content and the sources of breastfeeding knowledge could guide professionals such as midwives and maternity nurses as well as others in the women’s surroundings to engage in disseminating knowledge and therefore support women in achieving their breastfeeding goals. Methods: We conducted 26 in-depth interviews from the emic perspective with 13 new mothers pre- and postpartum, up to saturation level. Transcripts were analysed applying thematic analysis. As sensitising concepts, the themes identified were divided into two categories: those gained from 'professional' sources and those obtained from 'popular' sources. Results: Five knowledge content themes were identified: (1) pros and cons of breastfeeding, (2) how breastfeeding works, (3) individual breastfeeding practice, (4) expressing milk, and (5) formula feeding. ‘Professional’ sources are perceived as more helpful than ‘popular’ sources, whereas ‘intuition’ was inductively identified as an important knowledge source. Conclusion: Limited breastfeeding practice exposure, along with the recommendations to breastfeed for six months and perceptions of breastfeeding as ‘natural’ at the same time, generates much pressure in women. Emphasizing all knowledge content in campaigns, addressing a variety of target groups in women’s social environment, and recognizing intuition as an adequate source of knowledge supported by professionals will facilitate women in making informed infant feeding decisions.

Client-Centered Breastfeeding-Promotion Strategies: Q Methodology.

Fewer Korean women are choosing the 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding that are recommended for obtaining its maximal benefits despite an increasing effort to promote breastfeeding. Successful breastfeeding education and counseling need to be segmentally designed on the basis of client characteristics. This study explored the perceptions of breastfeeding in pregnant and 6 month postpartum Korean women using the Q methodology, a useful research approach to examine personal perceptions, feelings, and values about a concept or phenomenon of interest and identify typologies of perspectives. The Q sample consisted of 38 statements representing the universe of viewpoints on breastfeeding. The P sample (N = 49) included women who shared their perceptions of breastfeeding and filled each grid with a statement in the Q sorting table. Data were analyzed using the PC-QUANL program. Varimax (orthogonal) rotation revealed four factors that explained 53.0% of variance: maternal privilege (Factor 1), option based on emotion (Factor 2), option if efficient (Factor 3), and option if I have sufficient problem-solving skills (Factor 4). Korean women have changed their attitudes toward breastfeeding, with all participants viewing breastfeeding as optional. Breastfeeding-promotion campaigns and education need to consider societal norms and changes in women’s beliefs and perceptions.

My People are Dying of Ignorance: Changes in Exclusive Breastfeeding Knowledge, Benefits, Barriers, and Misconceptions in Family Members Involved in a Breastfeeding Promotion Campaign

BackgroundSince 2003, WHO has recommended exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months of life. In the NW Region of Cameroon only 34% of women EBF for six months. Previous research indicates that family members positively influence women's breastfeeding practices, but are often excluded from breastfeeding promotion campaigns.Study ObjectiveTo design an Entertainment Education (EE) audio program to test the hypothesis that EE improves EBF knowledge, benefits, and decreases misconceptions and barriers among family members of breastfeeding women.MethodsFormative research consisting of 12 semi‐structured interviews and 6 focus group discussions informed the content of an EE audio program using grounded theory. Differences in EBF knowledge, benefits, barriers and misconceptions between and within the control group and the intervention group were evaluated using pre‐and post‐tests and analyzed with Wilcoxon Sign Test and Mann‐Whitney statistical tests.ResultsThe audio program significantly improved overall EBF knowledge and benefits and decreased misconceptions within the intervention group (p &lt;. 05).ConclusionThis study provided insight into family member's EBF knowledge, benefits, barriers, and false misconceptions and proved that an EE audio program is an effective method of providing breastfeeding education to this population.

The Social Politics of Breastfeeding: Norms, Situations and Policy Implications

This paper explores the social and emotional consequences of three major assumptions about human action underpinning breastfeeding promotion campaigns in the UK. Drawing on Joas's critique of instrumental accounts of rational action, the paper illustrates the ways in which these campaigns firstly contribute to the moralisation of motherhood; secondly value highly individualised, de-contextualised forms of action; and thirdly promote an objectified view of the human body as a pliable instrument of human intentions. The consequences of these assumptions, as they shape the efforts of mothers to care for their babies and young children in complex, unpredictable and often uncontrollable situations, provides the focus of discussion. The paper concludes that a target-driven health-promotion policy, relying on a mechanistic account of social and emotional life, is contributing to the burden of early motherhood in ways that are not conducive to infant and maternal health and attachment.

Breast Feeding Practices in Pakistan

1 Abstract : The beneficial effects of breast feeding, both for the mother and child, are well-known. However, there is evidence that breast feeding is on the decline in many developing countries. In 1991-92, a nationwide survey was conducted in Pakistan to collect baseline health information on a variety of maternal and child health issues. Several of the survey questions addressed breast feeding practices. Survey results indicate that fewer mothers are breast feeding their children, and that mothers who do breast-feed often supplement breast milk unnecessarily and/or stop breast feeding earlier. Undesirable breast feeding practices were found to be associated with urban residence, younger mother's age, and higher educational attainment. Possible explanations for the decline in breast feeding are explored and implications for the development of more effective breast feeding promotion campaigns are discussed.

Why some women do not breast feed: bottle feeding and fathers' role

Objective: to explore women's experiences and perceptions of baby feeding and to explore the explanations offered by women who choose to either breast or bottle feed.Design: a qualitative study, which was prospective in design. Participants were interviewed three times: the first stage was between six and 14 weeks of pregnancy; the second stage was between 34 and 39 weeks; and the third stage was between six and 14 weeks after childbirth.Participants: 19 participants were recruited to the study group via 12 antenatal clinics in Coventry, UK.Findings and discussion: the data indicate that participants make baby-feeding decisions either prior to conception or early in the pregnancy. Findings also indicate that both breast and bottle feeders possessed knowledge of the benefits of breast feeding, but this did not seem to influence decision making. One of the most significant factors influencing the decision to bottle feed appears to be a desire for paternal involvement.Conclusions and implications for practice:to increase the incidence of breast feeding, health-care professionals should consider the need for preconceptual health promotion. The role of paternal involvement in baby-feeding decisions also needs to be acknowledged and men need to be included in breast-feeding promotion campaigns.

Pacifier use and short breastfeeding duration: cause, consequence, or coincidence?

Pacifiers are related to a shorter duration of breastfeeding. However, it is unclear whether this association is causal, because confounding, reverse causality, and self-selection of mothers may play a role. These issues were investigated through a combination of epidemiologic and ethnographic research in southern Brazil. A population-based cohort of 650 mothers and infants were visited shortly after delivery and at 1, 3, and 6 months. The rate of complete follow-up was 96.8%. A subsample of 80 mothers and infants was selected for the ethnographic study, which included in-depth interviews and participant observations in the age range of 2 to 6 months with a mean of 4.5 visits. The epidemiologic study showed that pacifier use was common with 85% of users at 1 month. However, this was a dynamic process, with many infants starting or abandoning the pacifiers in any age range. Children who stopped breastfeeding in a given period were likely to take up the pacifier during that period. Further analyses excluded all infants not breastfed at 1 month of age and those who reportedly had breastfeeding problems, leaving 450 infants with full data. Intense pacifier users at 1 month (children who used the pacifiers during most of the day and at least until falling asleep) were four times more likely to stop breastfeeding by 6 months of age than nonusers. Users also had fewer daily breastfeedings than nonusers. After adjustment for several confounding variables, logistic regression showed that pacifier use was still associated with an odds ratio of 2.5 (95% confidence interval, 1.40 to 4.01) for stopping breastfeeding. The ethnographic analysis showed that pacifier use was widely regarded as a positive behavior and that mothers often strongly stimulated the infants to accept it. Although few mothers openly admitted that pacifiers might shorten breastfeeding, a considerable group effectively used pacifiers to get their infants off the breast or to increase the interval between feedings. The latter also had rigid breastfeeding styles that increased maternal-infant distance, had important concerns about objective aspects of infant growth and development, and were highly sensitive to infant crying. These behaviors were linked to intense comparison between themselves and other mothers and to a lack of self-confidence. Nonwhite mothers, those who delivered vaginally, and mothers of infant girls seemed to be more confident and less affected by these difficulties. The epidemiologic analysis confirmed that pacifier use was more closely associated with breastfeeding duration among nonwhite mothers and for normally delivered infants. Pacifiers may be an effective weaning mechanism used by mothers who have explicit or implicit difficulties in breastfeeding, but they are much less likely to affect infants whose mothers are confident about nursing. Breastfeeding promotion campaigns aimed specifically at reducing pacifier use will fail unless they also help women face the challenges of nursing and address their anxieties. The combination of epidemiologic and ethnographic methods was essential for understanding the complex relations between pacifier use and breastfeeding.

Changes in breastfeeding initiation and duration in Peru, 1977–1986

Both breastfeeding initiation and duration increased in Peru during 1977-86. Although one would have expected that the average incidence and duration of breastfeeding would have declined as a result of changes in population characteristics, the potential for an overall decline was more than overcome by changes in behavior. A net increase in initiation and duration is shown for all subgroups of interest. The largest absolute increases are documented for children who, in 1977, were the least likely to be breastfed and who were breastfed for the shortest durations.

Breastfeeding Promotion in Kenya: Changes in Health Worker Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices, 1982-89

In 1982, a study of health worker knowledge, attitudes and practices with respect to breastfeeding was undertaken in Kenya. A breastfeeding promotion campaign ensued, in which training of health workers was a major component. In 1989, the impact of this campaign was evaluated through a survey examining changes in health worker knowledge, attitudes and practices. The survey showed that considerable improvements in knowledge and substantial improvements in hospital practices have occurred, although none of these could be attributed to any single element of the breastfeeding promotion programme. Particularly undesirable practices which were common in 1982, such as separation of mother and baby, formula feeding and use of bottles have virtually disappeared from Kenyan hospitals. Recommendations regarding future programme directions are made.

SURVEY ON BREAST-FEEDING (PART II)

The first survey for the object of promotion and practice of breast feeding is now followed by the second survey concerning grade of infant growth, mothers' attitude on breast feeding and their reflections on their past ways of infant care and feeding. The subjects were infants, aged 2 years to 2 years and 5 months on May 1, 1977, and their mothers, totalling 466. The chief findings were as follows : 1) The mean birth weight was highest in breast feeding group, followed by the mixed and bottle feeding groups in the descending order. When the body weight was assessed at 2 years to 2 years and 5 months by the percentile method, the bottle-fed group tended to be somewhat inferior than the others both in males and females, but there were no marked differences. As for the morbidity rate as a whole or as classified by illness, there was no difference among the three groups of feeding.2) Early cessation of breast feeding was observed for 97.4% of the mixed feeding group and 84. 6% of the bottle feeding group. The primary reason was poor mammary secretion. Also the mother's prejudiced view that breast-feeding had not contributed to body weight gain was also the reason why breast feeding was supplemented by bottle feeding. It was considered necessary from these facts to give mothers correct informations about the determination of mammary secretion, the evaluation of growth and development.3) Those who had known the breast feeding promotion campaign, accounted for 85.0% of the total subjects of the present survey 86.5% for the bottle feeding group, 85.6% for the breast feeding group, and 83.1% for the mixed feeing group. There was thus no marked difference between different feeding groups. Those who practiced the breast feeding numbered 208 (44.6%) inclusive of 30 subjects who had not known the campaign. Thus the knowledge of the campaign did not result in the practice of breast feeding.4) There was difference in the intensity of decision for breast feeding between those who had known the campaign in the health center and mothers' class and those who had learned it through mass communications such as newspaper and television and other routes. The former constituted only 29.2% of the total subjects.It is evident from the above findings that puplic health nurcing of communities and health centers, and guidance by physicians of medical instituted and of midwives play important roles in the promotion of breast feeding. Moreover are indispensable for this purpose, the understadings and cooperations common to all those who are in some way or other, concerned with maternal and child health. Furthermore, the health policy for mother and infant must be establish by taking into consideration also social aspects such as women's working.