Eat At Mom's: Critiquing and Rebuilding The Breastfeeding Paradigm
Item
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Title
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Eat At Mom's: Critiquing and Rebuilding The Breastfeeding Paradigm
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:e5f5fe6ab8df:11334
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identifier
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11678
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Creator
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Ma, Catherine,
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Contributor
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Michelle Fine | Suzanne Ouellette
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Date
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2012
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social psychology | Personality psychology | Health education | Breastfeeding | Breastfeeding policy | First time mother | Infant agency | Infant feeding | Multi-methodology
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Abstract
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For the past three decades breastfeeding has been globally promoted as the ideal method of infant feeding with policy makers defining breastfeeding and shaping the current breastfeeding paradigm with their recommendations that often leave out the voices of nursing women. We believe that the voices of mothers and their infants can be a valuable source of information to balance this discrepancy and offer suggestions to changing the current model of breastfeeding education to better match their specific needs. One hundred and twenty-seven first time mothers (FTM) committed to breastfeeding were recruited from popular online communities that focus on pregnancy and parenting for a multi-method study on breastfeeding views. Participants completed a series of quantitative measures consisting of the Iowa Infant Feeding Assessment Scale, Ways of Knowing Inventory, and Maternal Breastfeeding Evaluation Scale that focused on maternal infant feeding preference, learning styles, and maternal breastfeeding satisfaction. In addition, a variety of open-ended questions regarding prenatal breastfeeding beliefs and postpartum realities were used to identify changes that occurred as women negotiated from pregnancy to the early and late postpartum periods. Repeated measures ANOVA indicated significant differences in the silence and subjective dimensions of the Ways of Knowing Inventory indicating that as time passed, women were less likely to feel as though they had no voice in matters concerning breastfeeding their infants, F (2, 142) = 3.21, p < .05 and more apt to realize the value of their intuitive powers and believe that the truth could reside from within as opposed to relying on outside authorities, F (2, 142) = 4.98, p < .01. Critical discourse analysis revealed power struggles between FTMs and hospital personnel whose actions often undermined maternal efforts. Infant responses to feeding method were found to play a pivotal role in breastfeeding outcome suggesting a bilateral decision making process. Mothers also preferred individualized care as opposed to generalized instructions. The adequacy of the current breastfeeding paradigm will be discussed with suggestions on how to restructure current breastfeeding education to be more focused on the unique needs of women and their infants.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
