“It’s more than milk, it’s mental health”: a case of online human milk sharing

Background Milk sharing is not a new concept and occurs today via regulated human milk banks and unregulated online milk sharing groups. Exploring and understanding how, and why, mothers use these peers to peer milk sharing groups, is a vehicle to understanding how breastfeeding mothers can be tangibly supported online, adding to the literature on peer milk sharing, from a recipient’s perspective. This research presents a single case example of an online breastfeeding support group use, through one mother’s experiencing of seeking human donor milk. Method This is a qualitative, exploratory study observing the attitudes, thoughts, and feelings of one mother who is seeking human donor milk through online groups. A single key case was identified, and the participant was asked to document thoughts and feelings as she searched for milk online. A telephone interview was conducted after two months, and the online page activity from the Human Milk for Human Babies Facebook group was captured for the week following the interview. The results were presented in a chronological and linear analytical approach adopting pattern matching. Results ‘Abbi’ is a mother who has Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and subsequent low milk supply and sought donor breastmilk online. Online support groups introduced her to donor milk sharing, which not only supported her breastfeeding but supported her own mental health. Abbi talks of the need to build a trusting relationship with her donor, due to the lack of regulation, and the positive impact it had for her and ‘Lucas’, her baby. Conclusion Considering milk sharing groups simply as tangible online support ignores the complexities around Abbi’s decision to use human donor milk. Peer milk sharing online is an option for mothers, but it is surrounded by stigma amongst other mothers, professionals, and even within pro breastfeeding support groups.

COGNITIVE INTERVENTION TO THE WOMEN WHO ATTEND THE "BREASTFEEDING SUPPORT GROUP"

Introduction: Breast milk is the best food to meet the nutritional needs of the child, exclusively for the first 6 months and up to two years of age, favoring the establishment of the mother-child bond. Objective: To carry out a cognitive intervention to the women who attend the “breastfeeding support group”. Method: Quantitative research, with a quasi-experimental design, in a census sample made up of 11 pregnant women and 19 breastfeeding women. The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitudes Scale (IIFAS) was used. Results: 33.30% (10) are between 33-35 years old, 63% (19) in the puerperium, 56% (17) with primary education, 60% (18) carry out agricultural / cattle raising activities, 53% (16) in free union. In the pre-intervention, the women had a positive attitude with a score of 17-48 towards artificial breastfeeding 83% (25), in the post-intervention the positive attitude towards breastfeeding changed 87% (26), with a significant difference of p <0.01, in the items of the IIFAS instrument in the pre-intervention a mean and standard deviation of 2.07 ± 1.16, with an increase in the post-intervention of 4.48±0.65, a significance difference <0.05 in the total of questions in the pre-intervention from 35.23, increased after the intervention to 76.13, their attitude changed to exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusions: the cognitive intervention increased the positive attitude towards exclusive breastfeeding, highlighting that a timely educational intervention of promotion, support and accompaniment during pregnancy and postpartum guarantees the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding. Keywords: breastfeeding, breastfeeding behavior, breastfeeding, knowledge, attitudes and health practice

The un-acknowledged relationship between shared parental leave, breastfeeding and workplace support in UK Universities

Gender equality is integral to a universities’ strategy and agenda. However, there is a gap when looking through the lens of shared parental leave (SPL) or breastfeeding. This research investigates the causal relationship between SPL, breastfeeding, and workplace support. A survey targeting women working in UK Higher Education Institutions was conducted between February and July 2021, and 49 completed responses were recorded. Women reported knowledge of SPL but not all workplaces were offering SPL, it wasn’t easily accessible and often too complex to understand. Breastfeeding policies and workplace resources were minimal. Lack of breastfeeding support on return to work affected women’s decision to take SPL. Recommendations include the creation of more accessible policies (SPL and breastfeeding), providing examples of parents who have utilized SPL, dissemination of information on SPL and breastfeeding when women announce their pregnancy and on return to work, and adequate resources in the workplace to support breastfeeding mothers.

Breastfeeding Support Rooms and Their Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals: A Qualitative Study

Objectives: Breastfeeding support rooms are low-cost interventions that may prolong breastfeeding and improve work performance. Thus, we sought to understand the experiences and perceptions of working women who use breastfeeding support rooms and the potential contribution to sustainable development goals.Methods: Descriptive and exploratory research was conducted through convenience sampling of women working in companies with breastfeeding support rooms in the state of Paraná, Brazil. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied through interviews and online self-completion.Results: Fifty-three women between 28 and 41 years old participated in the study. In addition, 88.7% had graduated from college, and 96% were married. From the women's experiences and perceptions, we identified that breastfeeding support rooms contribute to prolonged breastfeeding, improve physical and emotional well-being, allow women to exercise their professional activities comfortably, contribute to women's professional appreciation for the excellent relationship between employees and employers.Conclusion: In this novel study, we demonstrate how, from a female point of view, breastfeeding support rooms can contribute to 8 of the 17 sustainable development goals and should therefore be encouraged and promoted.

Self-efficacy in Breastfeeding Predicts How Mothers Perceive Their Preterm Infant’s State-Regulation

Background: Mothers of preterm infants often perceive the infant as having problems with crying, sleeping and feeding, sometimes summarised as ‘state-regulation’. Breastfeeding rates are lower among preterm infants, and the mother’s self-efficacy in breastfeeding is central to understanding which mothers are going to breastfeed their infants. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the late preterm infant’s mother’s self-efficacy in breastfeeding was associated with how the mother experienced her infant’s state-regulation at three months of corrected age.Methods: The study had a prospective and longitudinal design with a consecutive data collection through questionnaires. Results: The analyses showed that being an older mother, perceiving breastfeeding support, and having a higher breastfeeding self-efficacy were all significantly associated with identifying the infant as having better state-regulation. Conclusion: There was an association between mothers’ self-efficacy in breastfeeding and her perceptions of how good state-regulation the infant had. This is an important finding, as self-efficacy is a manageable factor that could positively affect how the mother perceives taking care of her infant.Clinical implication: Health care professionals should target mother’s self-efficacy in breastfeeding to improve mother-infant relationship.

Association of Voluntary Legal Paternity and Breastfeeding Duration and Exclusivity in a Sample of Mothers in NewYork State, United States

Background and Objective: Globally, father engagement is deemed an important factor in mothers’ breastfeeding practices. In the U.S., the role of the father in breastfeeding is understudied. This study examines the association between voluntary legal paternity and maternal breastfeeding outcomes. Methods: Using data from a modified Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System survey (Monroe County, NY, 2015-2017) linked to New York State’s birth certificate data, we assessed breastfeeding outcomes (exclusivity and duration) by voluntary legal paternity (VLP) establishment. We examined breastfeeding duration (breastfeeding cessation at 13 weeks or less) and exclusive breastfeeding (at 13 weeks) among mothers whose infants had VLP (i.e., married, acknowledgment at birth), and those who had no-VLP (i.e., a court-mandated Paternity Affidavit or no legal paternity established). Univariate analyses were conducted, with additional variables (parental demographics, maternal social and clinical) included subsequently. The backward elimination method was used to determine the set of covariates to adjust in the model. Results: Of the 1,753 mothers initiating breastfeeding, 1,364 had VLP and 389 had no-VLP established. Mothers of infants with a no-VLP were more likely to be Black (29.49%), Hispanic (17.74%), have lower income (80.21%), have lower-education levels (44.73%) and were more likely to be <30 years old (61.7%), and had higher levels (14.4%) of reported traumatic stress before and during the most recent pregnancy. Among mothers initiating breastfeeding, those with no-VLP had a higher risk of breastfeeding cessation at 13 weeks (OR: 2.06; 95% CI, 1.25-3.42) after adjusting for maternal resilience, social support, hospital breastfeeding support, pre-pregnancy BMI, paternal age, and paternal education; and higher risk of breastfeeding cessation at 13 weeks (OR:1.46; 1.01-2.09). Conclusion and Implications for Translation: Voluntary legal establishment of paternity is associated with maternal breastfeeding outcomes. Screening of mothers may include legal paternity status as a further indication of the need for additional breastfeeding support, especially among socio-economically disadvantaged populations. Copyright © 2021 Alio et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.