"I didn't want to let go of the dream": Exploring women's personal stories of how their low milk supply was discovered.

Autor: Kam RL; Judith Lumley Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: renee.kam@latrobe.edu.au., Bennetts SK; Judith Lumley Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia; Intergenerational Health Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia., Cullinane M; Judith Lumley Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia., Amir LH; Judith Lumley Centre, School of Nursing and Midwifery, La Trobe University, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia; Intergenerational Health Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Breastfeeding Service, The Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Sexual & reproductive healthcare : official journal of the Swedish Association of Midwives [Sex Reprod Healthc] 2024 Jun; Vol. 40, pp. 100953. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 11.
DOI: 10.1016/j.srhc.2024.100953
Abstrakt: Problem: Low milk supply is the most common reason women give for stopping breastfeeding early and yet there is a lack of understanding about these women's experiences.
Background: Most women plan to breastfeed but many experience challenges such as low milk production, leading them to seek help and support.
Aim: To explore women's personal stories of how their low supply was discovered.
Methods: Inductive template analysis was used to analyse free-text online survey responses of women from the United States of America, Australia and the United Kingdom.
Findings: 384 women responded to the open-ended survey item between October 2021 and January 2022. We identified three themes: (i) Events and observations: From 'risk factors' to 'failure of breast changes' to 'my baby was so unhappy', (ii) Seeking support and taking action: 'I tried everything' and (iii) A rollercoaster of emotion: 'I didn't want to let go of the dream'.
Discussion: Our findings emphasise women's need to feel heard and understood and their quest to find answers. The rollercoaster of emotions they experienced largely stemmed from a gap between the expectations and reality of breastfeeding. Some participants described accepting a different feeding journey.
Conclusion: Findings underscore the need for quality and accessible psychosocial support for women experiencing low milk supply, in addition to the provision of evidence-based advice.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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