Antenatal hand expression of breastmilk and mothers’ self-efficacy with breastfeeding
- Publication Type:
- Thesis
- Issue Date:
- 2021
Open Access
Copyright Clearance Process
- Recently Added
- In Progress
- Open Access
This item is open access.
𝗔𝗶𝗺
The aim of this research is to explore the maternal experiences of antenatal hand expression (AHE) and its effect on the development of maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy and breastfeeding practices in the postpartum period.
𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱
AHE and breastmilk storage is potentially advantageous for all women who wish to breastfeed their infants. Until recently, only women with a high risk of developing breastfeeding problems were advised to perform AHE. Whether AHE benefits all women, including those without the high risk, needs to be researched further. Some studies indicated that AHE reduces woman’s stress response to breastmilk production in the immediate postpartum period and improves breastfeeding 'confidence' or breastfeeding 'self-efficacy'. However, few studies have confirmed this.
𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱
A cross-sectional web-based survey with quantitative and qualitative questions was used to collect data. The survey questions explored maternal experiences of how AHE affects maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy and breastfeeding outcomes. Participants were recruited via social media sites, including Facebook and a parenting website.
𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀
The quantitative findings demonstrated that there was no significant correlation between AHE and maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy or breastfeeding outcomes. However, women who expressed breastmilk and stored it antenatally were more likely to have higher maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy compared with those who expressed breastmilk but did not store it antenatally. The qualitative findings highlighted that AHE can be a strategy to develop maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy. Of note, within the qualitative findings the women identified numerous issues regarding AHE education or support and contemporary breastfeeding education that require improvement. The issues were as follows:
• Adequate information regarding AHE was not provided during antenatal breastfeeding education programs.
• Individualised one-on-one support for women was not regularly provided.
• Midwives or other health professionals provided inconsistent or conflicting breastfeeding advice.
• The quality, level and content of contemporary breastfeeding education classes varied among hospitals.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻
Learning to express breastmilk during the antenatal period is a useful skill to help women gain confidence and competence during pregnancy. Developing this skill during the antenatal period will benefit maternal self-efficacy and her ability to breastfeed her infant. This study highlighted issues regarding AHE support and contemporary breastfeeding education and made four main recommendations to resolve them:
including AHE information in antenatal breastfeeding education as a compulsory measure:
improving individualised one-one-on support.
improving staff education regarding providing breastfeeding support.
improving the quality of and access to antenatal breastfeeding education classes.
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: