Mothers’ strategies for creating positive breastfeeding experiences: a critical incident study from Northern Sweden

• Published in: International Breastfeeding Journal
• Main Authors: Anna Jacobzon, Åsa Engström, Birgitta Lindberg, Silje Rysst Gustafsson
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2022
• Subjects: Breastfeeding; Attitude; Strategies; Breastfeeding support; Critical incident technique; Pediatrics; RJ1-570; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13006-022-00474-9; https://doaj.org/article/fe8da0da38294bc398c43cdda4fa9558

Abstract Background Positive breastfeeding experiences positively influence subsequent attitudes towards breastfeeding, and increase mothers’ confidence, self-efficacy, motivation and intention to breastfeed. However, the strategies that mothers find useful and effective for creating positive breastfeeding experiences remain largely unknown. The aim of our study was thus to describe experience-based knowledge from mothers about strategies for creating positive breastfeeding experiences. Methods The study followed a qualitative design involving the critical incident technique. Data were collected with an online survey containing open-ended questions that was administered to a Sweden-based parenting group on Facebook in September 2018. Ultimately, 340 incidents from 176 women were identified as offering strategies for creating positive breastfeeding experiences. Data from the written replies were extracted as textual units, condensed and categorised until categories were mutually exclusive, which resulted in six categories. Results Participating women were on average 31.2 years old and the median number of children per participant was two. Mothers’ strategies for creating positive breastfeeding experiences generally included being calm and accepting that initiating breastfeeding takes time and can be difficult initially. Participants described feeling close to the baby by maintaining skin-to-skin contact and being present in the moment by taking time to appreciate the child and the breastfeeding situation, and temporarily forgetting about the world and simply being with the child in the here and now. Participants advocated baby-led breastfeeding and following correct techniques. They also described the importance of keeping an effortless mindset about breastfeeding to prevent perceiving breastfeeding as a compulsion. Mothers described acquiring knowledge about breastfeeding so that they could be prepared if breastfeeding problems occurred and getting support from professionals and family was described as ...