The successful transition to motherhood can be associated with the experience of infant feeding, and women’s views of whether that experience has been positive or negative can shape the mothering experience. However, nurses’ engagement with best practice breastfeeding promotion may elicit negative responses from women who are either unsuccessful in their attempts to breastfeed, or do not breastfeed for other reasons. Are nurses adequately prepared or supported to deal with the variety of infant feeding challenges that inevitably arise in perinatal practice settings? For example, Canadian perinatal nurses are expected to conform to WHO-conceived Baby Friendly expectations to disseminate evidence that pertains to the health risks of introducing formula to infants. However, in some circumstances, infant formula is recommended by practitioners in order to provide crucial hydration and/or nourishment, which destabilizes the discourse of risk, and creates confusion for mothers. Questions also arise about the appropriateness of nurses applying WHO guidelines to every woman without first considering intersectional realities which may not align with BF recommendations to breastfeed for six months and beyond. These questions, and others, informed the research question: “What is nurses’ experience of infant feeding support?” Eleven perinatal nurses from across Canada were interviewed. The conversations were interpreted using Gadamerian hermeneutic methodology. Participants described a variety of practices and dilemmas that they associate with infant feeding “support,” highlighting that complex and contradictory forces are at play for nurses involved in infant feeding support as well as the unintended and negative consequences of following BF best practice guidelines. / Graduate / humphriesj@camosun.bc.ca

Bakgrund: Helamning är när det nyfödda barnet enbart får bröstmjölk, vitaminer och läkemedel vilket rekommenderas i 6 månader till alla världens mödrar. Amning har många positiva fördelar för både barnet och modern. När amningen inte fungerar bidrar det ofta till negativa känslor av skuld, oro och misslyckande. För att hjälpa mödrarna att få amningen att fungera bedrivs amningsstöd av vårdpersonalen på olika sätt. Amningsstöd beskrivs som en blandning av praktisk hjälp, information och psykiskt stöd. Det har visats att amningsstöd både ökar durationen av helamning och mödrarnas tro på den egna förmågan. Syfte: Syftet är att studera hur amningsstöd upplevs av nyblivna mödrar. Metod: En litteraturstudie baserad på 16 vetenskapliga studier med kvalitativ ansats. De databaser som användes var CINAHL, PubMed och SveMed. Resultat: Utifrån de inkluderade studiernas resultat framkom det att mödrarnas upplevelser av amningsstöd kunde delas in i positiva och negativa upplevelser. De positiva upplevelserna hade att göra med bemötande, ageranden och social miljö som upplevdes stödjande, samt ett adekvat praktiskt stöd och uppföljning efter hemgång. Bekräftelse, uppmuntran, praktiska tips och ett individuellt utformat amningsstöd värderades högt av många mödrar. De negativa upplevelserna handlade om bemötande, information, praktiskt- och känslomässigt stöd som upplevts bristande, samt otillräcklig tid. Motstridiga råd, ett kallt bemötande och för lite tid med personalen var några faktorer som bidrog till en negativ upplevelse. Slutsats: När amningsstödet resulterade i att mödrarna kände sig bekräftade, bra bemötta och bidrog med praktisk kunskap upplevdes det positivt. Amningsstöd som istället bidrog till förvirring och känslor av att inte vara prioriterad eller unik som individ upplevdes som negativt. Resultaten från denna studie kan bidra till utveckling av ett personcentrerat amningsstöd. / Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is when the newborn baby receives only breastmilk, vitamins and medicine in terms of nutrition. This is what is recommended globally, to all women the first six months of their baby’s life. Breastfeeding comes with multiple benefits for both the baby and the mother. Encountering breastfeeding difficulties often results in negative emotions such as guilt, worry and failure. To help these mothers towards successful breastfeeding, different kinds of breastfeeding support are used by health care professionals. Breastfeeding support is described as a mixture of practical help, information and psychological support. Research has shown that breastfeeding support increases both the duration of exclusive breastfeeding and the mothers faith in their own ability to breastfeed. Aim: To study the experiences of new mothers concerning breastfeeding support. Method: A literature review based on sixteen scientific articles with qualitative inquiry. The databases used were CINAHL, PubMed and SveMed. Results: The results of the included articles on the experiences of breastfeeding support could be divided into positive and negative experiences. The positive experiences were related to how the health care workers treated them, acted and the social environment. Also fulfilling practical support and follow-up was considered positive. Factors greatly valued were confirmation, encouragement, practical tips and follow-up after leaving the hospital. The negative experiences described themes of attitudes, information, time and also practical- and emotional support that were all lacking. Factors contributing to negative experiences were conflicting advice, harsh attitudes and not enough time with the health care professionals.   Conclusion: It was received as positive experiences when the breastfeeding support resulted in feelings of confirmation, being well treated and given the practical knowledge the mothers needed. When the support instead resulted in confusion and feelings of not being a priority or a unique individual it became a negative experience. The results of this study can be a foundation for the development of breastfeeding support focusing on every unique mother.