Breasts and breastfeeding: perspectives of women in the early months after birthing.

Over recent years there has been widespread recognition and education about the benefits of breastfeeding. However as many Australian women breastfeed for only a few weeks, education alone appears inadequate to improve breastfeeding duration. This study explores other influences on breastfeeding by looking at women's perceptions of their breasts in relation to their breastfeeding experiences. Six women were recruited at approximately three months postpartum. The hermeneutic phenomenology of Heidegger (1962) and Gadamer (1975) was the chosen methodology. Individual, unstructured, indepth, conversational interviews were employed and analysed using Colaizzi's (1978) framework, which was modified to manage the large amount of data. Two patterns of differing focus emerged from the interviews, mixed images of the breasts and journey through the unknown of breastfeeding and new motherhood. Each pattern was divided into six and seven related themes respectively.