A recent study from the School of Nursing & Midwifery has found that Breastfeeding Peer Support Groups help to normalise breastfeeding through social support, with breastfeeding supporters providing other breastfeeding women with knowledge, empathy, and understanding.  

All forms of additional breastfeeding support, both lay and professional are known to increase breastfeeding continuation. Enhancing breastfeeding rates maximises the long-term impacts on health, nutrition, and development positively associated with breastfeeding. 

This study sought to investigate the role and impact of Breastfeeding Support Groups on breastfeeding mothers in Ireland from the women’s perspectives.  Researchers explored what women knew about breastfeeding peer support, how they used it, and what women felt were the strengths and limitations of this kind of support. 

A key finding was that the main reason women attend Breastfeeding Support Groups is ‘to meet other breastfeeding mothers’ rather than with a breastfeeding problem. 

Getting support from peer supporters was very important for women in this study.  Peer supporters provide socio-emotional support and practical breastfeeding assistance.  

More than half of the women in this study attended peer support groups both in person and online on a weekly basis.  

Breastfeeding Support Groups need to be promoted as welcoming and inclusive, supporting breastfeeding generally, and not solely for breastfeeding problems. Greater resources need to be allocated to promote awareness of breastfeeding groups with groups available in all communities and reaching a wider number of mothers from varying backgrounds. 

Lead author, Elizabeth McCarthy, Visiting Research Fellow at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, and Lactation Consultant, said: “This study increases our understanding of breastfeeding peer support and how it is accessed and valued by women. Breastfeeding Support Groups provide a social outlet for breastfeeding mothers to meet other mothers and normalise their experiences. Their success cannot be determined by breastfeeding rates alone and we must always consider the wider perspectives of mothers”. 

The full paper, entitled “Women’s perspectives on the role and impact of breastfeeding support groups in Ireland”, is available to read online here.