Understanding Mothers’ Infant Feeding Decisions and Practices
نویسندگان
چکیده
This paper begins with a discussion of social research which seeks to critique the emphasis on breastfeeding in infant feeding health promotion. The key themes of this research center on science, risk, and morality but other factors can also shape mothers’ decisions and practices regarding infant feeding, and particularly, breastfeeding. The paper explores a range of research studies which together highlight the wide range of social, cultural, and economic factors implicated in infant feeding decisions and practices. The discussions here demonstrate that social and economic factors, familial and social networks, interactions with health professionals, cultural contexts which sexualize women’s bodies, and experiences of public space, can all play a role in shaping how mothers negotiate infant feeding. This broad conceptualization of the factors that shape infant feeding practices offered by social research poses a challenge to the more simplistic accounts of infant feeding decisions implicit in public health promotion. It also demonstrates the profoundly social quality of infant feeding decisions that women make and the particular contributions that social research can make to our understandings of this area.
منابع مشابه
Study of Complementary Feeding Practices and Some Related Factors among Mothers Attending Primary Health Centers in Sari, Iran, in 2013
Background and purpose: Inappropriate complementary feeding practices are one of the causes of malnutrition worldwide. This study was aimed to determine the complementary feeding practices according to World Health Organization recommendation in Sari, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study on complementary feeding practices assayed the different aspect of infant feeding based o...
متن کاملAutonomy and infant feeding decision-making among teenage mothers in a rural and urban setting in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
BACKGROUND The nutritional status of infants born to teenage mothers can be sub-optimal compared to those born to older mothers. One contributing factor is inappropriate feeding practices adopted by teenage mothers. Little is known about how infant feeding decisions are made among teenage mothers, particularly in under resourced settings. In this study we prospectively explored autonomy and inf...
متن کامل"On our own, we can't manage": experiences with infant feeding recommendations among Malawian mothers living with HIV
BACKGROUND Infant feeding in communities with a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS is a potential challenge for mothers who must ultimately decide how to feed their infants within contexts that constrain their choices. METHODS We investigated how infant feeding policy recommendations translate into maternal infant feeding decisions and practices using ethnographic research conducted between Augu...
متن کاملExploring the infant feeding practices of immigrant women in the North West of England: a case study of asylum seekers and refugees in Liverpool and Manchester.
Little is known about the infant feeding experiences of refugees residing in the UK. To enable successful health promotion for this population, such experiences must be understood. The study aimed to gain an understanding of infant feeding practices among a group of UK-based refugee mothers. Objectives were to explore mothers' perceptions and influences of infant feeding practices, to explore c...
متن کاملIndividual and Community Perspectives, Attitudes, and Practices to Mother-to-Child-Transmission and Infant Feeding among HIV-Positive Mothers in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Literature Review.
OBJECTIVES International guidelines on infant feeding for HIV- positive mothers promote Exclusive Replacement Feeding (ERF) (infant formula or animal milk) or exclusive breastfeeding (with no supplements of any kind). A mixed feeding pattern, where breastfeeding is combined with other milks, liquid foods or solids, has been shown to increase the risk of transmission of HIV and is strongly disco...
متن کامل