A Qualitative Assessment of Mothers' Perspectives on Hospital and Community Breastfeeding Support in Mississippi
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Report Publish Date: February 2023
This journal article describes a study that explores breastfeeding mothers’ experiences in Mississippi.
Primary Takeaways
Five main themes—several of them contradictory—surfaced in focus group interviews with women who had delivered babies in Mississippi hospitals in 2019:
- Hospitals and their staff supported breastfeeding.
- Hospitals and their staff did not support breastfeeding.
- Mothers were committed to breastfeeding and encouraging others to breastfeed.
- Mothers believed breastfeeding was becoming more accepted and normal.
- There’s still a lack of support for breastfeeding in communities and workplaces.
Overview and Objectives
Mississippi has low breastfeeding rates overall and large racial disparities in breastfeeding rates. Since 2014, Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices, or CHAMPS, has worked with hospitals in Mississippi to implement the World Health Organization’s Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, improve breastfeeding rates, and reduce disparities between Black and White mothers. The authors wanted to know how new mothers felt about support for breastfeeding in Mississippi hospitals.
Hypothesis or Approach
The authors interviewed 21 mothers who delivered a baby in 2019. Focus groups contained about four participants each and took place on Zoom in 2021.
How This Influences Change
Baby-friendly hospitals help get more moms to start breastfeeding and to breastfeed exclusively, but support for breastfeeding within communities and workplaces is also needed, the authors say. “Employers should be educated about creative and comprehensive ways to support breastfeeding employees and mass community education efforts should be encouraged to reduce stigma, and ramp up community breastfeeding support in Mississippi,” they write.
Research: Go Deeper
The objective of this exploratory qualitative study was to interview breastfeeding mothers who gave birth in three Mississippi areas in 2019, and to record their breastfeeding experiences since the statewide increase in Baby-Friendly activity. Five virtual focus groups were conducted (between February and March 2021) with mothers who gave birth in 2019 and initiated breastfeeding, from the Mississippi Delta, Meridian, and Jackson. Participants discussed their prenatal care, time in the hospital and experience at home after the birth, focusing on breastfeeding education, support, and beliefs. Five key themes regarding participants’ hospital and community breastfeeding support experiences and beliefs emerged.
Participants reported conflicting breastfeeding support experiences. While several women reported improvements in the breastfeeding environment in Mississippi, some continue to experience inadequate hospital, community, and workplace lactation support. More work needs to be done to ensure optimal prenatal, in-hospital, and at-home breastfeeding education and support in Mississippi.
Journal of Neonatal Nursing, February 2023, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnn.2022.02.004
Research Team
This study and report was conducted and created by the following people.
- Gambari A
- Burnham L
- Berger J
- Annapragada B
- Bugg K
- Serano A
- Merewood A
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