ReviewMaternal & child nutrition2010
A meta-ethnographic synthesis of women's experience of breastfeeding.
Review in Maternal & child nutrition, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Women's Experiences of Breastfeeding Beyond One Year: A Qualitative Systematic Review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Breastfeeding experiences of women with perinatal mental health problems: a systematic review and thematic synthesis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Pooled it
- Factors that influence women's engagement with breastfeeding support: A qualitative evidence synthesis.Maternal & child nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Exclusive breastfeeding policy, practice and influences in South Africa, 1980 to 2018: A mixed-methods systematic review.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Breastfeeding Duration and the Theory of Planned Behavior and Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Framework: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.Maternal and child health journal · 2018Pooled it
- Does benefits-of-breastfeeding language or risks-of-formula-feeding language promote more-positive attitudes toward breastfeeding among midwives and nurses?BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Trial
- Feasibility and acceptability of a text message intervention used as an adjunct tool by WIC breastfeeding peer counsellors: The LATCH pilot.Maternal & child nutrition · 2018Trial
- Collecting real-time infant feeding and support experience: co-participatory pilot study of mobile health methodology.International breastfeeding journal · 2025Article
- What is effective communication in breastfeeding care? Perspectives from Latina women.PloS one · 2025Article
- The Philosophy That Enables the Return to Our Essence in Breastfeeding: HypnoBreastfeeding.The Journal of perinatal education · 2024Article
- Perceived pressure to breastfeed negatively impacts postpartum mental health outcomes over time.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Dual modality feeders: a group of human milk feeders with unique practices and needs.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- Investigating Maternal Perspectives of Breastfeeding Support Targeted Towards Fathers in the Milk Man Mobile App Intervention.Maternal and child health journal · 2023Article
- Breastfeeding initiation, duration, and experiences of mothers of late preterm twins: a mixed-methods study.International breastfeeding journal · 2022Article
- The Existential Breastfeeding Difficulty Scale's influences on the caring dialogue-Child healthcare nurses' lived experiences.Scandinavian journal of caring sciences · 2022Article
- Welcoming new life under lockdown: Exploring the experiences of first-time mothers who gave birth during the COVID-19 pandemic.British journal of health psychology · 2022Article
- Expectations and Experiences of Spanish Primiparous Women Who Decide to Breastfeed Their Infants and Strategies for Change in 2020-A Qualitative Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2022Article
- Women's Perceptions and Experiences of Breastfeeding: a scoping review of the literature.BMC public health · 2021Article
- Exploring women's perceptions of pain when breastfeeding using online forums.International breastfeeding journal · 2021Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite considerable evidence and effort, breastfeeding duration rates in resource-rich countries such as Australia remain below World Health Organization recommendations. The literature on the experience of breastfeeding indicates that women construct and experience breastfeeding differently depending upon their own personal circumstances and the culture within which they live. Breastfeeding has also been described as a deeply personal experience, which can be associated with 'moral' decision-making. The aim of this synthesis was to better understand the social phenomenon of breastfeeding by making the hidden obvious. Using a meta-ethnographic approach, we analysed the findings from 17 qualitative studies exploring women's experience of breastfeeding. Commonly used metaphors, ideas and phrases across the national and international qualitative studies were identified. Two overarching themes emerged. Breastfeeding was described in terms of 'expectation' and 'reality', while the emotional aspects of breastfeeding were expressed in 'connected' or 'disconnected' terms. The prevalence of health professionals and public health discourses in the language women use to describe their experience, and the subsequent impact of this on maternal confidence and self-assessment of breastfeeding are discussed. This synthesis provides insight into some of the subtle ways health professionals can build maternal confidence and improve the experience of early mothering.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.