Infant feeding experiences of women who were sexually abused in childhood.

Objective: To explore the effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) on women's breastfeeding and infant feeding decisions and experiences.

Design: Qualitative, participatory study using semistructured in-depth interviews.

Setting: Tamara's House, a healing centre for women who were sexually abused in childhood, located in Saskatoon, Sask.

Participants: Six mothers who were sexually abused in childhood.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was iterative and participatory. The emerging themes that resulted from initial analysis by the researchers were presented at a meeting held jointly with academics, survivors, and professionals in the field to achieve consensus. Throughout the process, findings were considered in relation to related literature on breasts, breastfeeding, and CSA.

Main Findings: History of CSA complicated the women's infant feeding decisions and experiences. For 2 women, birthing and breastfeeding facilitated healing from the effects of the abuse. Shame, touch, breasts, dissociation, medical care, and healing emerged as analytic themes.

Conclusion: A history of CSA can affect a woman's experience of breastfeeding, including acting as a trigger for remembering or reexperiencing the abuse. Women who were sexually abused as children need to experience a sense of safety, acceptance, sensitivity, and understanding. Physicians need to be aware of the effects of CSA on infant feeding and women's health, and might need to be trained in a sensitive-practice approach to working with patients who were sexually abused as children.