Abstract
This paper discusses challenges faced by mothers who seek to continue breastfeeding and/or breast milk feeding (B/BMF) whilst using daytime childcare, and early years practitioners’ attitudes toward their role in the support of these feeding practices. The dataset being reported comes from a small-scale feasibility study that was conducted in the summer of 2015 at a childcare provider site in a highly deprived urban area of Scotland. Focus groups with B/BMF mothers, as well as with early years practitioners were conducted. We report data pertaining to where responsibility lies for facilitating continued B/BMF, and on the perception of practitioners’ attitudes, knowledge about, skills and providers’ facilities for B/BMF. We recommend that care providers actively engage prospective parents in a discussion about how they can support continued B/BMF. This original data is contextualised and critically discussed within the wider literature with special attention being paid to the concepts of unintended consequences.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 1430123 |
Pages (from-to) | 205-220 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Early Years |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 12 Feb 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 12 Feb 2018 |
Keywords
- breastfeeding
- breast milk
- childcare
- early years