Poll: 36% of new mothers are ‘in distress’

New research shows the need for more supports for breastfeeding mothers, while a survey of women who gave birth four months before found that more than a third were in distress for a variety of reasons.

The research, conducted by dietician Annemarie Bennett and submitted as a thesis to Dublin Institute of Technology, is entitled Maternal and Paternal Influences on Infant Diet and Growth Throughout the First Year of Life. It investigates maternal and paternal behaviours and their influences on the diet and growth of infants in the first year of life, including maternal wellbeing and breastfeeding outcomes.

Beginning with a sample of 270 pregnant women, all of whom attended the Coombe maternity hospital, it found that 55.9% (151 women) initiated breastfeeding after giving birth. From the initial sample, 172 mothers were followed-up at four months post-partum, by which time just 15% were breastfeeding full-time, with another 9% breastfeeding part-time.