Women's experience of infant feeding following birth by caesarean section

This paper explores the infant feeding experiences of a group of women who gave birth by caesarean section. A quantitative survey was posted to 422 women between five and eighteen weeks after the caesarean section. Following one reminder a 68% response rate was achieved. In addition a review of the women's case notes was undertaken to determine infant feeding rates and progress as documented by midwives. Eighty five per cent of all the women in the sample which included responders and non-responders to the questionnaire in the case note review commenced breastfeeding and 65% of the respondents were still breastfeeding when they completed the questionnaire. Overall the most common reasons given by women for stopping breastfeeding were the perception of insufficient milk and inconvenience. Other reasons reported by the women for giving up at an early stage were difficulty with attachment, pain and lack of support at outset. This paper identifies the need for help and support with breast and bottle feeding on the postnatal ward which may be even more important for women who have caesarean sections. This work highlights how crucial the role of the health professional is to successful breastfeeding.