TY - JOUR
T1 - A mixed methods systematic review exploring infant feeding experiences and support in women with severe mental illness
AU - Baker, Natasha
AU - Bick, Debra
AU - Bamber, Louise
AU - Wilson, Claire
AU - Howard, Louise
AU - Bakolis, Ioannis
AU - Soukup , Tayana
AU - Chang, Yan-Shing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Maternal & Child Nutrition published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Funding Information:
We thank the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) for funding NB's Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship award number: NIHR301556. IB is supported by the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London and by the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South London (NIHR ARC South London) at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Maternal & Child Nutrition published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - There are many benefits of breastfeeding to women and their infants but meeting the recommended 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding is likely to be more challenging for women with severe mental illness (SMI). This is the first systematic review that aims to examine evidence of (a) infant feeding outcomes in women with SMI and the factors associated with this, (b) the experiences of infant feeding and infant feeding support for women with SMI, (c) interventions for supporting infant feeding among these women and (d) health care professionals' attitudes toward supporting infant feeding in women with SMI. Mixed methods systematic review was carried out using the principles of Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) 'convergent integrated' methodology. CINAHL, PsycINFO, Medline and MIDIRS were used to search literature between 1994 and 2022. The quality of selected articles was assessed using JBI critical appraisal tools and thematic synthesis was undertaken to obtain findings. Eighteen papers were included in the final review. Women with SMI were less likely to initiate and continue breastfeeding than women without SMI. Several challenges with breastfeeding were highlighted, and while these were often linked to women's mental health difficulties, inconsistent advice from health care professionals and poor support with breastfeeding further compounded these challenges. This review highlights that policy and practice need to take into account the individual challenges women with SMI face when planning, initiating and maintaining breastfeeding. Education and training for health care professionals are needed to enable them to provide tailored infant feeding support to women with SMI, which reflects their individual needs.
AB - There are many benefits of breastfeeding to women and their infants but meeting the recommended 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding is likely to be more challenging for women with severe mental illness (SMI). This is the first systematic review that aims to examine evidence of (a) infant feeding outcomes in women with SMI and the factors associated with this, (b) the experiences of infant feeding and infant feeding support for women with SMI, (c) interventions for supporting infant feeding among these women and (d) health care professionals' attitudes toward supporting infant feeding in women with SMI. Mixed methods systematic review was carried out using the principles of Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) 'convergent integrated' methodology. CINAHL, PsycINFO, Medline and MIDIRS were used to search literature between 1994 and 2022. The quality of selected articles was assessed using JBI critical appraisal tools and thematic synthesis was undertaken to obtain findings. Eighteen papers were included in the final review. Women with SMI were less likely to initiate and continue breastfeeding than women without SMI. Several challenges with breastfeeding were highlighted, and while these were often linked to women's mental health difficulties, inconsistent advice from health care professionals and poor support with breastfeeding further compounded these challenges. This review highlights that policy and practice need to take into account the individual challenges women with SMI face when planning, initiating and maintaining breastfeeding. Education and training for health care professionals are needed to enable them to provide tailored infant feeding support to women with SMI, which reflects their individual needs.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85161380316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13538
DO - DOI: 10.1111/mcn.13538
M3 - Review article
SN - 1740-8695
VL - 19
JO - Maternal And Child Nutrition
JF - Maternal And Child Nutrition
IS - 4
M1 - e13538
ER -
