Department of Nursing Science and Medical Technology, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
Int Breastfeed J. 2022 May 8;17(1):35. doi: 10.1186/s13006-022-00474-9.
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.
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.
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 significant for having a positive breastfeeding experience. Caring for oneself and one's body, with aids if necessary, were described as important strategies, as were having a positive attitude and a strong desire to breastfeed.
Because positive breastfeeding experiences and support are predictors of future breastfeeding initiation and duration, assisting women in creating positive breastfeeding experiences is important. Asking mothers to formulate strategies that they find useful could facilitate breastfeeding by making their approaches more conscious and visible.
积极的母乳喂养体验会对后续的母乳喂养态度产生积极影响，并增强母亲的信心、自我效能感、动力和母乳喂养意愿。然而，母亲们认为有用且有效的创造积极母乳喂养体验的策略在很大程度上仍不为人知。因此，我们的研究旨在描述母亲们基于经验的、有关创造积极母乳喂养体验的策略的知识。
本研究采用定性设计，采用关键事件技术。数据是通过 2018 年 9 月在 Facebook 上的一个瑞典育儿小组进行的在线调查收集的，该调查包含开放式问题。最终，从 176 名女性中确定了 340 个事件，这些事件提供了创造积极母乳喂养体验的策略。从书面回复中提取文本单元，进行浓缩和分类，直到类别相互排斥，最终形成了 6 个类别。
参与研究的女性平均年龄为 31.2 岁，每名参与者的孩子中位数为 2 个。母亲们创造积极母乳喂养体验的策略通常包括保持冷静和接受，即母乳喂养需要时间，最初可能会很困难。参与者通过保持皮肤接触来感受与婴儿的亲近，并通过花时间欣赏孩子和母乳喂养的情景，暂时忘记世界，只与孩子在当下共处，从而体验到与婴儿的亲密感。参与者提倡婴儿主导的母乳喂养，并遵循正确的技术。她们还描述了保持轻松心态的重要性，以防止将母乳喂养视为一种强迫。母亲们描述了获得母乳喂养知识的重要性，以便在出现母乳喂养问题时做好准备，并获得专业人士和家人的支持被描述为拥有积极母乳喂养体验的重要因素。照顾自己和自己的身体，如有必要使用辅助工具，被描述为重要的策略，以及保持积极的态度和强烈的母乳喂养愿望也是重要的策略。
因为积极的母乳喂养体验和支持是未来母乳喂养开始和持续时间的预测因素，所以帮助女性创造积极的母乳喂养体验很重要。让母亲们制定她们认为有用的策略可以通过使她们的方法更加有意识和可见来促进母乳喂养。
