What is it about?
The advantages of breastfeeding is well known and many countries are trying to increase the rates for this way of infant feeding. Fathers can play an important part in helping mothers in their baby-feeding decisions. However, there is little research in this area that explores the man's experience. We conducted a systematic review of the literature and found that although men can make an important contribution there is a lack of health promotion material for men. Also they were sometimes excluded by health professionals and practice from being involved. We found that men want to support the mothers feeding decisions but do not make the decisions.
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Why is it important?
Infant feeding is very important. This work is important because there is very little known about how men deal with infant feeding. By finding out men's experience health professionals can help include men in helping mothers.
Perspectives
We both found that examing how men experienced infant feeding was very interesting. Particularly the way men tried to both access help and to find out how to support their partners and the difficulties in accessing the information they needed. We hope you find this paper stimulating and of use professionally and personally.
Dr Robin A Hadley
Manchester Metropolitan University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Men's views and experiences of infant feeding: A qualitative systematic review, Maternal and Child Nutrition, January 2018, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/mcn.12586.
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