Exclusive Breastfeeding and Migrant Mothers’ Agency in Chile

Abstract

The aim of this study was to understand the agencies of migrant mothers in their interaction with health professionals promoting compliance with exclusive breastfeeding (EB). This qualitative study conducted interviews with breastfeeding migrant and Chilean women and health professionals from the Chile Crece Contigo Program in Chile. The results indicated that migrant women who did not practice EB took actions to resist pressure from health professionals considered a form of agency; however, this did not necessarily free them from social judgment. In addition, these actions were associated with a lack of promotion of parental co-responsibility and access to social and economic resources.

Keywords:

• Exclusive breastfeeding
• agency
• migration
• Chile

Acknowledgments

The author would like to extend appreciation to the participants and the Family Health Care Centers (Centros de Salud Familiar) of Renca and Recoleta for being a part of this study.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The data sets used and analyzed are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) [Doctoral Fellowship No. 21170329].