A narrative analysis of breastfeeding counselling
Date
2001
Authors
Leja, Gabrielle Mary
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Abstract
In, this study, I examined what the experience of receiving breastfeeding counselling is like from the mother's viewpoint. I held conversational interviews with four mothers who had recently breastfed1to elicit their stories of receiving breastfeeding counselling from a healthcare professional. Narratives were evoked from the conversations and analysed according to three contexts of interpretation: Self Understanding, or the participant' s own viewpoint; Critical Commonsense Understanding, in which the context of counsel received was compared to current breastfeeding literature; and a Theoretical Understanding, in which three narratives corresponded with popular socio-cultural narratives, biomedical, and lay accounts. A counter-narrative resulted when one participant's experiences did not fit with these three prevalent accounts, although the participant modified her final paragraphs to include the prevalent lay accounts about breastfeeding.