Breastfeeding Behaviors : Women 's Experienced Breastfeeding Social Networks

The immediate and long-term benefits of breastfeeding have been demonstrated. Mothers are encouraged to begin breastfeeding immediately after delivery, however mothers choosing to breastfeed find numerous challenges once returning to work. There are not appropriate accommodations to support nursing mothers in the workplace. Although there are laws in place to support accommodations in the workplace these laws are not enforced and therefore it is virtually impossible for mothers to continue to breastfeed as a result of the significant barriers they face to effectively find suitable accommodations in the workplace. There needs to be a standard for enforcing these policies if the goal is to move toward encouraging all mothers to breastfeed throughout the first six months of life.

In this video Jenn Anderson presents her ideas on how our culture could better support breastfeeding mothers (Anderson, 2014). One of the first items Anderson advocates for is having positive lactation support and birthing supports present to facilitate this process at the time of birth (2014, 1:21). In the United States very little insurances pay for lactation specialists, birthing doulas or birthing supports outside the realm of labor and delivery teams; this includes publicly funded birth’s highest payee Medicaid (Kozhimannil, et al., 2016). In addition, Anderson also vies for work environments that support breastfeeding mothers by creating

of society's views on breastfeeding mothers, even though breastfeeding is known to be the optimum

Breast are everywhere these days. Magazines, movies, and social media are saturated with images promoting the ideal or attractive figure of women. That American focus on the sexual characteristic of breasts, rather its physical and psychological function in maternity is what has caused the discomfort in many members of the nation. Americans think that breasts exist for enhancing sexual activity, and feel uncomfortable when they are reminded that breasts go into babies’ mouths.

For the most part women cover themselves with a shawl, a wrap, or a cover of some sort while breastfeeding.

In a study conducted in the United Kingdom by Brown, Raynor, and Lee (2011), their aim was to examine healthcare professionals’ and mothers’ ideas about what exactly effects decisions to either breastfeed or formula feed their child. The participants included in the study were twenty healthcare professionals and twenty-three mothers. The professionals were recruited by opportunity sampling or naturally occurring groups and the mothers were recruited using posters that were placed in local nurseries and different community centers. Theses community centers were located in a variety of places with “varying degrees of social deprivation.” Both groups engaged in interviews but the questions were different. Some of the questions that they asked the healthcare professionals wanted to gauge their experience with mothers and why they believed that the breastfeeding rate was low in the UK and the questions that they asked the mothers had to do with their experience with breastfeeding or formula feeding. Prior to the interview, the mothers gave information regarding their educational background, income, marital status, their infants’ birth weight and gestational age at birth. If the child was born prematurely, with low birth weight, or with serious health issues, then the interview wasn’t conducted. Additionally, the mothers gave information on the length of time that

Although breastfeeding provides various benefits to mothers and their infants, there are various social and cultural factors that influence a mother’s decision to exclusively breastfeed their infant. Purdy (2010) concludes that some evidence suggest that many mothers abandon the idea of breastfeeding in order to comply with cultural and societal demands. This presents an ethical predicament, as these aspects can create barriers in preventing mothers from breastfeeding due to different pressures. One major barrier that can greatly affect a woman’s decision to breastfeed is a lack of social support from family and peers. Typically, a woman would depend on her own mother, close relatives, and friends whether they have breastfed before for

Since the self-efficacy theory proposes that mothers who are efficacious in their breastfeeding abilities will be more likely to initiate breastfeeding, put forth a great effort and persist if breastfeeding difficulties are experienced, and have positive thought patterns and emotional reactions to breastfeeding, the relationship between selected factors and breastfeeding self-efficacy will be evaluated and described in this study. Having targeted the factors that affect self-efficacy of breastfeeding, it can also directly affect behavior in the initiation, performance, and maintenance of breastfeeding. Moreover, these influences may be utilized purposively to enhance the mother’s breastfeeding self-efficacy. In order for the goal of the researchers

The benefits of breastfeeding are well recognized and well-studied. Today, most US hospitals endorse breastmilk initiative and encourage all women to exclusively breastfeed on demand during their postpartum period. While most women are well informed about benefits of breastfeeding and express positive approach towards breastfeeding and most tried breastfeeding while in the hospital, only few maintained breastfeeding after discharged home. The rates of breastfeeding failure are higher in first-time mothers. There is a strong need to better approach first-time mothers and address barriers that prevent optimal breastfeeding. I will explore the effect of new communication tool (BabyFeed/BabyTracker mobile app) to support breastfeeding

Devin arrived three weeks early weighing only five pounds and had an Apgar Score of six indicating that Devin needed some assistance with establishing breathing and vital signs (Berk & Meyers, 2016). After about a week in the hospital Devin was healthy enough to go home, his mom decided to breastfeed him. Breastfeeding infants helps to protected them against many disease and helps to provide the correct amount of fat and protein (Berk & Meyers, 2016). Devin lives with both parents his mother Anna who works as a teacher at the local school and his father Aaron who works as a manager at a restaurant. They are a low-income family who lives in an apartment in the city. Devin is now two years old with a brown complexion and short brown hair, he

Another factor that may have played important role is physical and social interaction of the mother and the child while breastfeeding (Kramer, 2008). An article from Scientific American, written by R. Douglas Fields, argued that it is not the chemicals in the breast milk that affects the brain development but perhaps it is the bonding time that makes an impact (2011). According to Tonse Raju, author of Breastfeeding is a Dynamic Biological Process-Not Simply a Meal at the Breast, “An infant suckling at his or her mother’s breast is not simply receiving a meal, but is intensely engaged in a dynamic, bidirectional, biological dialogue.” The infant’s cognitive abilities are being enhanced by the nurturing interaction that takes place during the

Breastfeeding is the naturalist and healthiest way to give your newborn, infant, or toddler food. By the time the baby is born the mother usually knows if she is going to breastfeed or bottle-feed. As a nurse one of our major roles is to teach and educate the patients. We as nurses also know that in the end the final decision and choice is the patients. The pregnant mother expecting a newborn will start to produce its colostrum about week 16 of the pregnancy. Colostrum is the milk substance that will feed the newborn the first days out of the womb. Colostrum provides all the nutrients and fluid that your newborn needs in the early days, as well as many substances to protect your baby against infections

Imagine that you are a new mother and you are taking your baby out of the house for the first time. You decide to go eat lunch at a causal, family restaurant. You are sleep deprived, your hair is a mess, and your body doesn 't feel quite like it used to, but you have to get finally out of the house, even if it is just for lunch. Imagine that your baby suddenly starts crying, and you can feel the glances of the other diners.Your motherly instinct is telling you that your baby is hungry. After thinking it over, you decide to nurse your baby while sitting at the booth. Those glances turn to blatant stares. A problem that many mothers face is the judgement that comes along with breastfeeding their babies in public places. Although it isn 't discussed much, any mother who has nursed beyond the confinements of her own home has most likely received her fair share of disgruntled looks and not-so-discreet whispers. Breastfeeding is a natural part of life, which is why it should be more socially acceptable for women to nurse their babies in public without being scrutinized or sexualized by others.

Determine whether a prenatal breastfeeding workshop increased breastfeeding self-efficacy and exclusive breastfeeding in expectant mothers.

This chapter dealt with the findings of the study to compare the knowledge, attitudes and practices of rural and urban woman towards breastfeeding. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data and analysis was done with the help of descriptive statistical method and chi - square test. P value <0.05 was considered as significant.