Factors that influence women's engagement with breastfeeding support: A qualitative evidence synthesis

Abstract

Breastfeeding is an integral part of early childhood interventions as it can prevent serious childhood and maternal illnesses. For breastfeeding support programmes to be effective, a better understanding of contextual factors that influence women's engagement and satisfaction with these programmes is needed. The aim of this synthesis is to suggest strategies to increase the level of satisfaction with support programmes and to better match the expectations and needs of women. We systematically searched for studies that used qualitative methods for data collection and analysis and that focused on women's experiences and perceptions regarding breastfeeding support programmes. We applied a maximum variation purposive sampling strategy and used thematic analysis. We assessed the methodological quality of the studies using a modified version of the CASP tool and assessed our confidence in the findings using the GRADE‐CERQual approach. We included 51 studies of which we sampled 22 for in‐depth analysis. Our sampled studies described the experiences of women with formal breastfeeding support by health care professionals in a hospital setting and informal support as for instance from community support groups. Our findings illustrate that the current models of breastfeeding support are dependent on a variety of contextual factors encouraging and supporting women to initiate and continue breastfeeding. They further highlight the relevance of providing different forms of support based on socio‐cultural norms and personal backgrounds of women, especially if the support is one‐on‐one. Feeding decisions of women are situated within a woman's personal situation and may require diverse forms of support.

TheCONSENSYSapproach: An instrument to supportCONtextual SENsitivityinSYStematicreviews

“…We piloted CONSENSYS in our own systematic review on factors that facilitate or constrain women's engagement and satisfaction with breastfeeding support. It is the first review in which CONSENSYS was featured 28 . The aim of this pilot was to assess the framework's applicability.…”

“…Based on CONSENSYS, we produced contextualised implication sections for policy and practice that were judged useful and relevant by reviewers assessing the review prior to publication. The implication sections of the published review can serve as user guidance for interested scholars who wish to apply CONSENSYS to their review 28 …”

“…It is the first review in which CONSENSYS was featured. 28 The aim of this pilot was to assess the framework's applicability. We also looked into structural aspects and presentation for reviewers actively involved in developing implication sections.…”

“…The implication sections of the published review can serve as user guidance for interested scholars who wish to apply CONSENSYS to their review. 28 Piloting the framework on an ongoing review revealed which parts of the instrument requested further adaptation and refinement. This specifically meant that we re-labelled some of the contextual factors: for example, the contextual factor 'influencer' was changed in 'person of influence' or 'workforce' in 'resources and workplace' or that we merged some factors that showed potential overlap.…”

Mothers’ Breastfeeding Satisfaction: Key to Environmental Sustainability

“…However, many mothers decide to breastfeed late in pregnancy or after giving birth [17,21]. Sayres and Visentin [23] show that the rate of breastfeeding doubles if the mother has received advice from the midwife during pregnancy, so it is important to address issues such as nipple care, the benefits of breastfeeding, and correct maternal feeding [21].…”