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The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma

Abigail Wheeler Orcid Logo, Fay Sweeting Orcid Logo, Andrew Mayers Orcid Logo, Amy Brown Orcid Logo, Shanti Farrington Orcid Logo

Healthcare, Volume: 13, Issue: 6, Start page: 672

Swansea University Author: Amy Brown Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.3390/healthcare13060672

Abstract

Background/Objectives: It is established that both birth and infant feeding experiences can impact maternal mental health, but little is known about how the two might interact. Potentially, a positive breastfeeding experience might help to mitigate feelings associated with birth trauma, but converse...

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Published in: Healthcare
ISSN: 2227-9032
Published: MDPI AG 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69261
first_indexed 2025-04-10T12:33:16Z
last_indexed 2025-04-11T05:22:35Z
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spelling 2025-04-10T13:35:14.1020800 v2 69261 2025-04-10 The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma 37aea6965461cb0510473d109411a0c3 0000-0002-0438-0157 Amy Brown Amy Brown true false 2025-04-10 HSOC Background/Objectives: It is established that both birth and infant feeding experiences can impact maternal mental health, but little is known about how the two might interact. Potentially, a positive breastfeeding experience might help to mitigate feelings associated with birth trauma, but conversely, a difficult feeding experience might further compound birth trauma. The aim of this study was therefore to explore how mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding following birth trauma might impact their mental health. Methods: To explore this, mothers were invited to complete an online survey about their experiences of birth and breastfeeding and how they felt these affected their wellbeing. There were 501 responses, with 159 (32%) describing their birth experience as traumatic and therefore included in this analysis. A thematic analysis approach was used to explore themes around breastfeeding experiences and the impact on wellbeing. Results: Mothers who described positive breastfeeding experiences felt that breastfeeding helped them to bond with their baby post birth trauma and that this protected their mental health. Conversely, mothers who had a difficult experience described how pain, exhaustion, and low milk supply further negatively impacted their wellbeing. Conclusions: The findings show the importance of enhanced support for breastfeeding mothers who have experienced birth trauma, as feeding experiences can potentially help heal or compound challenging memories, thoughts, and emotions around birth. Journal Article Healthcare 13 6 672 MDPI AG 2227-9032 breastfeeding; postnatal care; mental health; birth trauma; qualitative 19 3 2025 2025-03-19 10.3390/healthcare13060672 COLLEGE NANME Health and Social Care School COLLEGE CODE HSOC Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2025-04-10T13:35:14.1020800 2025-04-10T13:29:50.3546083 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Health and Social Care - Public Health Abigail Wheeler 0009-0003-9679-9215 1 Fay Sweeting 0000-0002-0334-578X 2 Andrew Mayers 0000-0003-2298-498X 3 Amy Brown 0000-0002-0438-0157 4 Shanti Farrington 0000-0001-5394-4791 5 69261__33994__7510c6a3b46a4a9e94275f43831a1e48.pdf healthcare-13-00672.pdf 2025-04-10T13:29:50.3510933 Output 401813 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma
spellingShingle The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma
Amy Brown
title_short The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma
title_full The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma
title_fullStr The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma
title_full_unstemmed The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma
title_sort The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma
author_id_str_mv 37aea6965461cb0510473d109411a0c3
author_id_fullname_str_mv 37aea6965461cb0510473d109411a0c3_***_Amy Brown
author Amy Brown
author2 Abigail Wheeler
Fay Sweeting
Andrew Mayers
Amy Brown
Shanti Farrington
format Journal article
container_title Healthcare
container_volume 13
container_issue 6
container_start_page 672
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 2227-9032
doi_str_mv 10.3390/healthcare13060672
publisher MDPI AG
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Health and Social Care - Public Health{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Health and Social Care - Public Health
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Background/Objectives: It is established that both birth and infant feeding experiences can impact maternal mental health, but little is known about how the two might interact. Potentially, a positive breastfeeding experience might help to mitigate feelings associated with birth trauma, but conversely, a difficult feeding experience might further compound birth trauma. The aim of this study was therefore to explore how mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding following birth trauma might impact their mental health. Methods: To explore this, mothers were invited to complete an online survey about their experiences of birth and breastfeeding and how they felt these affected their wellbeing. There were 501 responses, with 159 (32%) describing their birth experience as traumatic and therefore included in this analysis. A thematic analysis approach was used to explore themes around breastfeeding experiences and the impact on wellbeing. Results: Mothers who described positive breastfeeding experiences felt that breastfeeding helped them to bond with their baby post birth trauma and that this protected their mental health. Conversely, mothers who had a difficult experience described how pain, exhaustion, and low milk supply further negatively impacted their wellbeing. Conclusions: The findings show the importance of enhanced support for breastfeeding mothers who have experienced birth trauma, as feeding experiences can potentially help heal or compound challenging memories, thoughts, and emotions around birth.
published_date 2025-03-19T05:27:42Z
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score 11.089386

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