‘Betwixt and between’: women’s experiences of breastfeeding long term

2018 ◽  
pp. 55-70
Author(s):  
Sally Dowling
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Unknown Number ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Second Year Of Life ◽  
Second Year

This chapter draws on research with women who breastfeed for longer than is usual in the United Kingdom, where a minority of women are still breastfeeding at six months and an unknown number breastfeed into the second year of life and beyond. The anthropological concept of liminality (being ‘neither one thing nor another’) is used to explore and understand their experiences. The chapter takes ideas about liminality and relates them to breastfeeding long term, discussing how they might help those working in this area to support more mothers to breastfeed for longer. It briefly outlines what is known about long-term breastfeeding from previous research and explains the concept of liminality. The remainder of the chapter discusses the findings in relation to liminality and how this has been used to think about breastfeeding, and considers what being ‘betwixt and between’ means for breastfeeding women. The idea of breastfeeding as polluting or ‘matter out of place’ is also briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Using liminality to understand mothers’ experiences of long-term breastfeeding: ‘Betwixt and between’, and ‘matter out of place’

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Dowling ◽  
David Pontin
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Breastfeeding Initiation ◽  
Breastfeeding Support ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
The United Kingdom

Breastmilk is widely considered as the optimum nutrition source for babies and an important factor in both improving public health and reducing health inequalities. Current international/national policy supports long-term breastfeeding. UK breastfeeding initiation rates are high but rapidly decline, and the numbers breastfeeding in the second year and beyond are unknown. This study used the concept of liminality to explore the experiences of a group of women breastfeeding long-term in the United Kingdom, building on Mahon-Daly and Andrews. Over 80 breastfeeding women were included within the study, which used micro-ethnographic methods (participant observation in breastfeeding support groups, face-to-face interviews and online asynchronous interviews via email). Findings about women’s experiences are congruent with the existing literature, although it is mostly dated and from outside the United Kingdom. Liminality was found to be useful in providing insight into women’s experiences of long-term breastfeeding in relation to both time and place. Understanding women’s experience of breastfeeding beyond current usual norms can be used to inform work with breastfeeding mothers and to encourage more women to breastfeed for longer.

Women's Experiences of Participating in the Magpie Trial: A Postal Survey in the United Kingdom

Birth ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca M.D. Smyth ◽  
Lelia Duley ◽  
Ann Jacoby ◽  
Diana Elbourne
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Postal Survey ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
The United Kingdom

scholarly journals “I just wear it and I become normal”: a qualitative study of Tanzanian women’s experiences with long-term vaginal pessary use for stress urinary incontinence

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e040009
Author(s):  
Karina Holm Nissen ◽  
Benjamin C Shayo ◽  
Vibeke Rasch ◽  
Gileard G Masenga ◽  
Ditte Søndergaard Linde
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Urinary Incontinence ◽  
Stress Urinary Incontinence ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Vaginal Pessary ◽  
Cost Effective Treatment ◽  
Long Term Treatment

IntroductionPrevious research has shown that vaginal pessaries are a cost-effective treatment for women worldwide suffering from stress urinary incontinence. However, little is known about African women’s experiences with vaginal pessary use. The aim of this study was to understand the experiences of vaginal pessary use among Tanzanian women who had received long-term pessary treatment for stress urinary incontinence.Methods15 semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted over a 2-month period in 2019 with Tanzanian women living in the Kilimanjaro Region who suffered from stress urinary incontinence and who had been using a pessary for at least 18 months. The interview transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis.ResultsThe primary motivation for seeking treatment were discomfort from symptoms, social consequences and low quality of life. Perceived benefits from pessary use included improved quality of life with reacquired abilities to perform daily activities, participate in social gatherings, feeling symptom relief and improved sexual relations. Further, some women saw pessary treatment as superior to other locally available treatment options. Perceived barriers for pessary use included shame, husband’s disapproval, limited access to treatment and lack of knowledge among the women as well as healthcare personnel.ConclusionVaginal pessaries are well-perceived as a long-term treatment method among Tanzanian women suffering from stress urinary incontinence. This method may have potential to be implemented large scale in Tanzania if combined with basic health education.

scholarly journals Language Legislation and Policy in the uk and Ireland: Different Aspects of Territoriality in a ‘Celtic’ Context

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Dunbar
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Scottish Gaelic ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Language Legislation ◽  
The Uk

In spite of the long-term dominance in Britain and Ireland of English, other indigenous languages continue to be spoken, and in relatively recent years several of those languages have benefited not only from a more coherent and supportive language policy but also from significant language legislation. One of the interesting features of these other indigenous languages is that, although strongly associated with rural ‘heartlands’ in the particular jurisdictions with which they are associated, they are also spoken in other parts of those jurisdictions, and, indeed, in other parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. In this article, the ways in which the concept of territoriality has impacted upon legislation and on broader policy for two of these languages, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, will be considered.

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