The Family Management of Breastfeeding Low Birth Weight Infants

Human milk plays a vital role in the health and development of low birth weight (LBW) infants, yet the initiation and duration rates of breastfeeding in this population are far below those of term infants. Families play an important role in the breastfeeding experience and therefore may contribute to the overall success or lack thereof of the experience. This qualitative study used naturalistic inquiry to describe the family management styles of 13 breastfeeding families of LBW infants. The family management style conceptual framework guided this inquiry, with management styles emerging from the families’ definition of the experience and their management behaviors within their unique sociocultural context. These families described facilitating, maintaining, and obstructing family management styles. Through the identification of distinct management styles, interventions may be developed that will assist these families to achieve their breastfeeding goals.