20/05/2025
New study for people who have experienced birth or breastfeeding trauma
I am working with Bournemouth uni to support a brilliant PhD into breastfeeding experiences and birth trauma. Abi has been looking at experiences of birth and breastfeeding and how birth trauma and breastfeeding experience can intertwine.
We've shared earlier findings around how a good breastfeeding experience can sometimes help heal a difficult birth, but also that sometimes women feel pressure not to breastfeed even when they want to (and vice versa some feel pressure to breastfeed when they don't want to).
For this part of her PhD she is interested in exploring the experiences of those who wanted to breastfeed after birth but felt that this was not understood or dismissed by health care professionals.
This might include reasons such as not understanding how important it was to you, thought they were doing the right thing by not putting 'pressure' on you, or there simply not being the time to sit and talk things through to make a plan.
The aim is to understand how women feel in these situations and develop some recommendations for training around supporting breastfeeding when women really want to do it. even if there are complications or challenges.
Abi is hoping to conduct a few more interviews. If you gave birth between 2018–2023 and felt your wish to breastfeed was dismissed, she would love to hear from you.
Eligibility criteria include:
• Mothers aged 18+
• Gave birth between 2018–2023
• Wanted to breastfeed (including mixed feeding) but felt unsupported or dismissed by healthcare staff
What’s involved?
A short, confidential interview with the lead researcher to discuss your experiences.
Interested?
Email Abi Wheeler at [email protected]
Thank you!
