Women's experiences of learning to breastfeed

Aim: This research explores women’s experiences of learning to breastfeed. Design: A purposive cohort of healthy mothers participated in individual audio recorded interviews late pregnancy and then 2 and 8 weeks after birth. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using van Manen’s approach. Setting and participants: Participants were 13 first time mothers based in a rural municipality in Victoria, Australia. Key findings: Women’s voices gave rich descriptions of their experience of learning to breastfeed. Women shared the physicality of having ‘great big engorged breasts’ or ‘sore nipples’, and ‘learning to latch’ while ‘having so very many things happening’. Conclusion: Many participants felt overwhelmed with learning to breastfeed at the same time as coping with caesarean wounds, perineal trauma, uterine bleeding and extreme fatigue. Future implications: Parenting education needs to be offered early in pregnancy so couples can explore birthing and its potential outcomes and to introduce infant cues and behaviours as a base for understanding how these impact on breastfeeding and problem solving.