Breastfeeding and Daily Life

The Breastfeeding and Daily Life study is examining experiences of, and attitudes towards, breastfeeding outside of the home.

The Breastfeeding and Daily Life study involves four overlapping work packages. Initially, a qualitative systematic review of experiences of infant feeding in public spaces will be undertaken. Following this, the remaining three work packages involve primary research.

First, as part of an “urban ethnography”, a researcher will spend time in urban spaces in Cardiff, assessing the presence and absence of barriers or facilitators to breastfeeding in public. Spaces will include retail spaces (shops, shopping centres) supermarkets), cafes and restaurants, and entertainment venues (museums etc). Should data saturation occur in the time available, the urban ethnography will be expanded to other towns and cities in the UK.

Second, we will ask businesses identified as positive or negative places to breastfeed in to provide us with copies of policy documents, training materials and other textual data, alongside brief interviews to explain these.

Third, we will ask 15 women who are breastfeeding their babies (10 with infants aged under 6 months and 5 with infants and children aged over 6 months) to tell us about their experiences using a mapping interview. Following this, on a separate occasion, the researcher will conduct a “go along” interview, accompanying the woman (and her child/children) on a routine journey in or to an urban space. During this encounter, the woman and researcher will discuss how the built environment and individuals within it affect them, with a particular focus on parenting behaviours and infant feeding.

A shopping voucher will be provided to say thank you to the women who take part in the research. The data will be analysed to identify barriers and facilitators to parenting in urban space.