| Background. Health care providers recommend that mothers breastfeed their infants because of the numerous nutritional, physical, psychological, immunological, and economic benefits to both mother and child. Nevertheless, the majority of mothers in this country continue to feed their infants commercial infant formulas. Little is known about the experience of not breastfeeding.; Purpose. This phenomenological study described the experience of infant feeding in non-breastfeeding mothers and analyzed the meaning of the experience, as interpreted from narratives of the experience.; Sample. A purposive sample of twelve mothers participated in the study.; Method. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used to understand the experience of infant feeding in non-breastfeeding mothers.; Findings. The experience of infant feeding in non-breastfeeding mothers includes perceiving bottle-feeding as a normal way to feed an infant, that feeding is a special and intimate experience for both baby and caregiver, that the experience is one of "not breastfeeding," and despite not breastfeeding, of being a good mother. Mothers may disagree with the advice that breastfeeding is the best way to feed a baby because their personal experience is in conflict with medical advice that can be ignored as out of touch, wrong, or unwanted. Those that believe breastfeeding is the best way to feed infants have other personal or publicly held values that are more important to them than the value of breastfeeding. Those include modesty, convenience, returning to other responsibilities, help with caring for children, a return to their pre-pregnancy body, or more independent children.; Discussion. The experience of not breastfeeding is constructive; it is one of enjoyment, intimacy with a child, pride in being a good mother, and conforming to normative pressures to be modest, independent, and to contribute to the family economy. It cannot, however, be understood as only positive, in that the experience is also one of guilt, unwelcome pressure, and the sense that one is going against medical advice. The experience of infant feeding for women who do not breastfeed is inseparable from the context of motherhood and the message that breastfeeding is the way infants should be fed. |
