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- Title
Perceived Pressures and Mental Health of Breastfeeding Mothers: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.
- Authors
Wheeler, Abigail; Farrington, Shanti; Sweeting, Fay; Brown, Amy; Mayers, Andrew
- Abstract
When a mother is supported to breastfeed, the benefits for her mental health are significant. However, if pressured or unsupported, the opposite is true. This research examines mothers' breastfeeding experiences, exploring how perceived pressure can impact perinatal mental health. A sample of 501 respondents to a research questionnaire was explored using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Three main themes identified were perceived pressure to breastfeed, perceived pressure not to breastfeed and mental health impact. The main findings were that mothers received conflicting advice from healthcare professionals, and pressures to feed in a certain way came from their support networks, as well as from their internal beliefs. Perceived pressures negatively impacted maternal mental health, while positive breastfeeding experiences benefitted mental health outcomes.
- Subjects
BREASTFEEDING; PEER pressure; MENTAL health; QUALITATIVE research; DELIVERY (Obstetrics); VAGINA; QUESTIONNAIRES; ATTITUDES of mothers; MISINFORMATION; POSTNATAL care; THEMATIC analysis; SURVEYS; PSYCHOLOGY of mothers; RESEARCH methodology; RESEARCH; SOCIAL support; MOTHER-child relationship; PERINATAL period
- Publication
Healthcare (2227-9032), 2024, Vol 12, Issue 17, p1794
- ISSN
2227-9032
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/healthcare12171794