Hello! My name is Megan Ruff and I am a junior nursing student at
the University of North Dakota. I am currently taking my Childbearing
Nursing II class and I will soon be doing clinicals on the OB unit. I
joined the Lactnet listserv a few weeks ago and have benefited from
reading about many different interesting subjects. I find Labor and
Delivery exciting and have always had an interest in it!
One aspect of childbearing that I am very interested in is
breastfeeding. I know breastfeeding is very important in the first year
of life and it helps to reduce death, while also having many other
positive impacts on the infant and mother. I was interested in whether
the initiation and duration of breastfeeding has anything to do with the
support the new breastfeeding mother receives from her peers, family,
and/or significant other. I did some research regarding breastfeeding
support and found many interesting facts. In a study performed by
Wolfberg et al. (2004), expectant fathers were recognized as a great
influence on whether an expectant mother decides to breastfeed or not.
In this study, fathers who advocated for breastfeeding increased the
chances that their partner would breastfeed the newborn infant.
Another study done on couples’ relationships and breastfeeding showed
a positive association with paternal involvement in the care of the
infant and support to breastfeeding and its maintenance when couples had
a good relationship (Falceto, Giugliani, & Fernandes, 2004).
According to Dennis, Hodnett, Gallop, and Chalmers (2002), the
majority of mothers stop breastfeeding before the recommended 6 months
post partum. The major reason why most women stop breastfeeding is not
maternal choice, but difficulty with breastfeeding. In this study
performed by Dennis et al. (2002), significantly more women in the
experimental group (peer support group) were still breastfeeding 3
months post partum in comparison with the control group. The peer
support these women received in the study was over the phone. Peer
support also helped the mothers to evaluate themselves and their
breastfeeding experience and a significant number of the participants in
the peer support group stated that they would breastfeed their next infant.
I have read over previous posts in the archives and found one
regarding a husband that was not supportive to his wife with
breastfeeding. He thought her pumping was adequate. I also found many
articles regarding the La Leche League as support groups, but I am
interested in the initiation and duration of breastfeeding when a woman
receives support.
I have a few questions regarding this issue. My questions are does
your workplace or facility have a class for fathers to attend regarding
breastfeeding and do you feel nurses should act as a support system by
following up with new moms at specific time intervals?
Thank you,
Megan Ruff, SN
Dennis, C.L., Hodnett, E., Gallop, R., & Chalmers, B. (2002). The
effect of peer support on breast-feeding duration among primiparous
women: a randomized controlled trial. Canadian Medical Association
Journal, 166(1), 21-28.
Falceto, O.G., Giugliani, E., & Fernandes, C.L. (2004). Couples’
relationships and breastfeeding: Is there an association? Journal of
Human Lactation, 20(1), 46-55.
Wolfberg, A.J., Michels, K.B., Shields, W., O’Campo, P., Bronner, Y., &
Bienstock, J. (2004). Dads as breastfeeding advocates: Results from a
randomized controlled trial of an educational intervention. American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 191, 708-712.
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