Breastfeeding and WIC Participants: A Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

This article describes a qualitative study designed to evaluate the obstacles to breastfeeding among Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants. The aims of the study presented here were to determine why participants chose particular feeding methods, to identify particular barriers to breastfeeding among low-income women, and to explore microlevel, as well as macrolevel, factors that have the potential to increase breastfeeding rates exponentially. Results of this study indicate that school and/or work requirements, familial influence, physician advice, and culturally constructed belief systems are factors that heavily influence low-income women's infant-feeding decisions.

Keywords:

• breastfeeding
• human lactation
• nursing
• breast-feeding
• infant feeding