Center for Research on Health in Latin America, School of Nursing, Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
Graduate College, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.
J Commun Healthc. 2024 Mar;17(1):84-91. doi: 10.1080/17538068.2023.2189366. Epub 2023 Mar 16.
From a medical standpoint, breastmilk is the optimal option for feeding a baby, relegating the cultural, social, and material determinants to breastfeeding. Worldwide, breastfeeding rates are low, especially among working mothers. Healthcare providers have low breastfeeding rates due to several barriers to lactation, i.e. work schedule andlack of private places for pumping.
A descriptive qualitative methodology was applied to examine the breastfeeding experiences of Ecuadorian mothers who are healthcare professionals. Twenty healthcare professionals who breastfed their babies took part in the research. Data gathering employed synchronous semi-structured interviews in Spanish. The data analysis followed the Phronetic Iterative Approach.
Women shifted the preconceived idea of the ideal breastfeeding scenario concerning duration, promotion, and support, ideals which are constructed in their training as healthcare professionals. Although these women believe that breast milk and breastfeeding is the best way to feed a baby, the internalized ideal of breastfeeding shifted with the experience of motherhood. Although they had that clash between the ideal and the external reality, they continued breastfeeding their babies, and those experiences resulted in them improving their professional practice.
This study demonstrated that breastfeeding for this group of women appears to be a unique relational and identity negotiation process. The findings emphasize that experiencing breastfeeding for this group of healthcare providers positively shifted how they communicate breastfeeding with their patients in the clinical encounter. Ensuring that healthcare professionals acquire a different approach for educating and communicating about lactation is an essential determinant in efforts to improve breastfeeding rates in Ecuador.
从医学角度来看，母乳是喂养婴儿的最佳选择，将文化、社会和物质决定因素置于母乳喂养之外。在全球范围内，母乳喂养率都很低，尤其是在职业母亲中。由于哺乳的几个障碍，如工作时间和缺乏私人吸奶场所，医护人员的母乳喂养率也很低。
采用描述性定性方法，研究了厄瓜多尔职业母亲的母乳喂养经历。20 名母乳喂养婴儿的医护人员参与了研究。数据收集采用西班牙语同步半结构式访谈。数据分析遵循 Phronetic Iterative Approach。
女性改变了对母乳喂养持续时间、促进和支持的理想场景的先入之见，这些理想是在她们作为医护人员的培训中构建的。尽管这些女性认为母乳和母乳喂养是喂养婴儿的最佳方式，但母乳喂养的内在理想随着母亲身份的经历而改变。尽管她们在理想和外部现实之间存在冲突，但她们继续母乳喂养婴儿，这些经历使她们改善了专业实践。
这项研究表明，对于这组女性来说，母乳喂养似乎是一个独特的关系和身份协商过程。研究结果强调，对于这群医护人员来说，母乳喂养体验积极地改变了她们在临床接触中与患者沟通母乳喂养的方式。确保医护人员获得不同的方法来教育和沟通母乳喂养是提高厄瓜多尔母乳喂养率的重要决定因素。
