Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St Louis. St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St Louis. St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2023 May;324:115871. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115871. Epub 2023 Mar 28.
The widespread use of breast pumps in the United States is a recent phenomenon that is reshaping how individuals understand and perceive lactation. In the 1990s, adequacy of milk supply was primarily measured indirectly by infant weight gain and/or diapers; now >95% of all lactating persons in the United States use breast pumps and are seeing their milk regularly. How seeing milk impacts the perception of lactation sufficiency is an important area of research. Research aim/question: To understand personal and intersubjective influences of seeing expressed human milk on perceptions of milk supply among participants who express milk for their infants.
We surveyed 805 lactating participants from the United States about their pumping practices using an online survey. Participants described pumping practices, milk output, and beliefs. They were then randomized to view one of three photographs of expressed milk (<2 oz, 4 oz, >6oz) and asked to imagine they had just pumped that amount and provide a written response; this created 4 exposure groups (2 increase and 2 decrease) and a control group (no difference).
Participants randomized to a higher volume reported more positive feelings and used the terms "good", "great", and "accomplished" to describe emotional responses to output. Participants randomized to lower milk volumes reported more feelings of "bad" or "depressed." A subset of participants reported feeling "annoyed" about small volumes of milk.
Participants in this study were very conscious of the volume of milk pumped each session; both increases and decreases were associated with emotional responses that could contribute to decisions about pumping practices, perceived milk supply, and lactation duration.
在美国，吸乳器的广泛使用是一种新现象，正在重塑人们对哺乳的理解和认知。在 20 世纪 90 年代，乳汁供应是否充足主要通过婴儿体重增加和/或尿布更换来间接衡量；而现在，美国超过 95%的哺乳期妇女使用吸乳器，并且定期看到自己的乳汁。看到乳汁如何影响对哺乳充足性的感知是一个重要的研究领域。
研究目的/问题：了解在为婴儿哺乳的参与者中，看到挤出的人乳对其乳汁供应感知的个人和主体间影响。
我们通过在线调查，对来自美国的 805 名哺乳期参与者的吸乳实践进行了调查。参与者描述了吸乳习惯、乳汁产量和信念。然后，他们被随机分为三组，分别观看三张表达母乳的照片（<2 盎司、4 盎司、>6 盎司），并被要求想象他们刚刚挤出了那么多的奶，并提供书面回复；这创造了 4 个暴露组（2 个增加组和 2 个减少组）和一个对照组（无差异）。
随机分配到较高奶量组的参与者报告了更积极的感觉，并使用“好”、“很棒”和“有成就”等词来描述对产量的情绪反应。随机分配到较低奶量组的参与者报告了更多的“不好”或“沮丧”的感觉。一部分参与者对小量的乳汁感到“恼火”。
本研究的参与者非常关注每次吸乳的奶量；奶量的增加和减少都与情绪反应有关，这些反应可能会影响吸乳习惯、感知的乳汁供应和哺乳持续时间的决策。
