A balancing act-midwives' and public health nurses' experiences with breastfeeding counselling

To explore midwives' and public-health nurses' experiences of breastfeeding counselling in order to provide a deeper insight into breastfeeding counselling.

A qualitative design was used, and qualitative content analysis was conducted to analyse the data in accordance with the phenomenological hermeneutic tradition.

The Norwegian Centre for Research Data approved this study. All participants provided written consent.

Four focus-group interviews were conducted on a sample of eight midwives and 13 public-health nurses in Norway.

Three interrelated themes describing the meaning of midwives' and public-health nurses' experiences with breastfeeding counselling emerged from the analysis: Breastfeeding Counselling Means Responsibility for Collaboration and Facilitation, Being Confident as a Breastfeeding Counsellor Means Striving for Professional Competence and Supporting the Individual Breastfeeding Family Means Being Sensitive and Adapting to Novel Situations.

The focus groups comprised a mix of midwives and public-health nurses, which may have inhibited honest declaration of these professionals' opinions of each other.

Midwives and public-health nurses regard structural factors and prioritising breastfeeding support in society as important for providing good breastfeeding counselling. Midwives and public-health nurses strive to find a balance between relying on their own competence, promoting breastfeeding in accordance with guidelines and respecting mothers' choices. Healthcare professionals require knowledge about breastfeeding, good clinical judgement, a listening attitude and openness to how breastfeeding affects mother's everyday life to provide good breastfeeding care.