Infant-Feeding among Low-Income Women: The Social Context that Shapes their Perspectives and Experiences

Abstract

This article explores the perspectives of low-income women in order to better understand the social context that shapes their infant-feeding perspectives and experiences. The authors used purposive sampling to conduct 3 focus groups with 19 women who were formula-feeding their infants in 1 urban and 2 rural communities in the eastern region of the island of Newfoundland in Canada. Elements of the social context for infant-feeding included the prevalence of myths and misinformation about breastfeeding; cultural expectations about infant behaviour; the postnatal experience, including the medicalization of birth and breastfeeding; partner support and child-care workload; cultural stigma of breastfeeding; and a moralizing ideology that equates breastfeeding with "good mothering. "The authors discuss the implications of the findings from a nursing and public health perspective, offering 7 recommendations for how nurses and health professionals might better support women and their families.

“I…don’t want to see you flashing your bits around”: Exhibitionism, othering and good motherhood in perceptions of public breastfeeding

“…It has been suggested that those who are uncomfortable with viewing breastfeeding are more likely to be unfamiliar with breastfeeding, to express sexist views or to view breasts sexually (Acker, 2009). This has led to many women reporting uncomfortable experiences of breastfeeding around others, including young mothers (Woods, Chesser, & Wipperman, 2013), those living in low income areas (Newhook et al, 2013), and those who breastfeed longer term (i.e. beyond six months) (Dowling & Brown, 2012;Stearns, 2011).…”

Infant Feeding Mode Predicts the Costs of Healthcare Services in One Region of Canada: a Data Linkage Study

“…In addition, NL has the lowest breastfeeding initiation rates (71.9%) and the lowest six-month exclusive breastfeeding duration rates (13%) in Canada [ 19,20 ].…”

“…In Canada, little is known about the economic impact of increasing breastfeeding rates, as few studies have examined the impact of infant feeding mode (IFM) on HSU [ [13][14][15][16] ]. Two studies concluded that breastfeeding was strongly protective against infections severe enough to require hospital admission;…”

“…however, both studies were small and focused on Indigenous populations [ [13][14][15], and neither study . Per-person healthcare spending is even higher for infants, in 2014 the percapita cost of medical services for infants in their first year of life was $10,800 [ 18 ].…”

Understanding breastfeeding maintenance

“…However, many factors can shape one's breastfeeding experience or journey. For example, breastfeeding occurs within one's social environment, or social context, which can be continuously affected by structural (e.g., time and place to breastfeed or pump, access to supplies, information, and support), institutional (e.g., hospital practices, maternity leave policies), cultural (e.g., myths and misinformation, expectations of others, partner support, equating breastfeeding with being a good mother), and economic (e.g., paid leave/need to return to work, cost of supplies or formula) factors that surround mothers (Langellier et al, 2012;Leeming, Williamson, Lyttle, & Johnson, 2013;McKinley & Hyde, 2004;Newhook et al, 2013). Such social and cultural factors may act as barriers or facilitators to breastfeeding maintenance and must be fully understood through mothers' perspectives in order to improve public health interventions aiming support breastfeeding maintenance (Langellier et al, 2012;McLeroy, Bibeau, Steckler, & Glanz, 1988).…”