A qualitative look into mother's breastfeeding experiences

The objective of the project was to gain a holistic understanding of the current breastfeeding experiences of mothers, while identifying resources and support for breastfeeding in the Athens-Clarke County and surrounding areas. This was an exploratory qualitative study of in-depth interviews with a total of 21 mothers (12 from WIC; 9 from Full Bloom) from Athens-Clarke County and surrounding areas. The inclusion criteria of the participants were mothers of infants who were 12 months old or younger who delivered in Athens. The mothers were individually interviewed. Informants attributed their success, or lack of, to the presence of a breastfeeding role model. Successful mothers shared how important it is to have peers who breastfed and/or are supportive of breastfeeding. While some reported positive support, others reported negative reaction from their work environment. About 75% of the mothers reported negative or no support from their clinician or staff of the hospital. Some informants reported a perceived lack of honesty on the clinician's part about the possible difficulties and possible problems. It is important that clinicians provide honest and consistent breastfeeding information to prepare mothers for potential challenges that may arise during the course of breastfeeding.