I wanted to breastfeed! : A Hermeneutical Study of Mothers with Breastfeeding Problems; Their Experiences, Coping Strategies, and Consultative Meetings with Midwives 

The focus is on mothers who asked for help because of initial problems with breastfeeding, i.e., their feelings and experiences, how they cope with their difficulties, and the consultative meetings with a midwife. Taking as a point of departure the ideas that mothers have about breastfeeding, the aim is to describe how mothers experience their situation and themselves as new mothers, when they have problems with breastfeeding, and, to find out how mothers experience the consultative situation as well as their own participation and responsibility. Fourteen mothers, who expressed a wish to breastfeed and who asked for help during their stay in the maternity ward, were video-taped during individual consultations with a midwife. Three months later each mother was interviewed about her experiences and feelings as regards the consultations. The outcomes were analysed according to a hermeneutical approach, from an interactionist perspective and, in addition, using crisis theory as a theoretical basis. This thesis illuminates the interactionist perspective on three different system levels: the norms in society in relation to the mother’s expectations about breastfeeding, the mother’s intra-psychological process and the consultative meeting. The results demonstrate that the women had thought of breastfeeding as a ‘door opener’ into the new role of motherhood. When the mother instead encountered a breastfeeding situation that did not meet with her expectations, there were two things that stood out very clearly; i.e., a feeling of inadequacy, and a constant internal as well as external questioning of herself. The fact that breastfeeding did not turn out as expected could also trigger a crisis reaction. It was important that the mother had a feeling that the midwife understood her, so what she was talking about became meaningful. This in turn could lead to a shift in attitude so that the mother changed from a closed position to an open and, thus, could begin to look forward. If breastfeeding did not turn out the way the mother had hoped her self-image was influenced and ‘coming into existence” as a mother was more difficult. To be involved and responsible had different meanings depending on where the mother was in the process, which meant that the mothers wanted different kinds of support on the way. One condition for making this possible was the consultative meeting in a manner of reciprocity