Infant feeding intentions among first time pregnant women in urban Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Objective: to identify first time pregnant women's infant feeding intentions for the first 2 years of life.

Design: a qualitative phenomenological approach was used, with semi-structured interviews as the primary method of data collection.

Setting: two of Eastern Health's antenatal clinics in the outer east region of Melbourne, Australia.

Participants: seven first time pregnant women from an Eastern Health antenatal clinic.

Main outcome measure: women's infant feeding intention for the first 2 years of life.

Main findings: all the participants intend to breast feed their infant for around 6 months. Women rely heavily on information about infant feeding options from friends, books and the internet, as the information provided by health professionals was found to be inadequate, acquired late in the pregnancy and difficult to access.

Key conclusions: the information women receive from midwives at antenatal appointments and parenting classes about infant feeding options is inadequate, as women are not satisfied with the timing, amount and usefulness of the information they receive.

Implications for practice: in order to see an increase in the rate of breast feeding it is imperative to create supportive environments for women to breast feed, and for midwives and health professionals to provide information and continued support for women in both the pre- and postnatal period.