"I Think I Can "

Though most postnatal Australian women are breastfeeding when they leave hospital, only a small minority breastfeed for long enough to attain all the health and other benefits breastfeeding has to offer. Years of research has uncovered socio-demographic and other differences between women which influence this early weaning, but still the question of how to assist women to breastfeed for longer seems largely unanswered. The two-phase study described here explored the psychological differences between women, and how these differences influence breastfeeding duration. The study began with a qualitative enquiry aimed at generating a list of psychological factors that clinicians and breastfeeding women themselves believed were important to continuing with breastfeeding. In the second phase, factors selected from this list and the existing literature were measured in the mothers of new babies, who were followed-up six months later and asked about their infant feeding experience. This book will be of interest to midwives, breastfeeding clinicians, researchers and breastfeeding advocates, and to every woman who has encountered the joys, fears, tears and wonder that is breastfeeding.