The Psychosocial and Emotional Experience of Breastfeeding: Reflections of Mothers.

Breastfeeding is acknowledged as optimal infant nutrition, yet despite high initiation rates, early cessation remains common. To understand why, we asked mothers in Western Canada how they felt about their breastfeeding experience. A total of 191 women (response rate 35%) responded to a survey distributed by public health nurses.

"Be positive as well as realistic": a qualitative description analysis of information gaps experienced by breastfeeding mothers.

Background: Early breastfeeding cessation is common in many regions of the world despite high breastfeeding initiation rates and strong evidence of the health benefits to both mother and infant. This research investigated mothers' perceived breastfeeding information needs in order to increase our understanding of this phenomenon.

Methods: Surveys were distributed by public health nurses in a health region in Western Canada to mothers who had initiated breastfeeding and whose infants were six to eleven months old to learn more about their infant feeding experiences during the birth to six month period.