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- Use of Private Social Media Breastfeeding Support Groups to Aid in Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy: A Focused Ethnography
Clinical Trial
Use of Private Social Media Breastfeeding Support Groups to Aid in Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy: A Focused Ethnography
This study seeks to describe breastfeeding mothers' beliefs on breastfeeding their child past six months of age while using a private social media breastfeeding support group. Additionally, the support that breastfeeding mothers give and receive as members of these groups will be described to help define this sub-culture of breastfeeding mothers. For this study, the private breastfeeding support groups are on the social media site Facebook. The researcher will interview breastfeeding mothers from these private social media groups on the virtual platform Zoom. She will also write de-identified notes using the pages' saved documents and photos that have been posted to the groups page by the moderators and administrators. Secondly, she will write de-identified notes on photos that participants who have already given consent for the study may have posted in their private social media group. The researcher will keep a journal with her thoughts, which will be reviewed with the interview transcripts and notes on the photos and documents. This information will help provide detailed descriptions of this sub-culture of breastfeeding mothers.
Eligibility Criteria
- Inclusion criteria are: breastfeeding mothers who have breastfed one child for at least six months with a goal to breastfeed beyond infancy, have a reliable internet connection, who are members of a private social media breastfeeding support group for at least one month, and who are 18 years of age or older. Exclusion criteria are: mothers who mainly express their breastmilk, who primarily bottle feed donated or purchased breastmilk, those who do not identify as a mother, and who can not comprehend, read or write English.