Women's Choice Regarding Breastfeeding and Its Effect on Well-Being.

Because of the many known maternal and neonatal health benefits of breastfeeding, there have been significant efforts to encourage exclusive breastfeeding, and many hospitals follow the guidelines of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. However, even with the right support, many women are unable to exclusively breastfeed, which may make them feel anxious and/or depressed. Psychological pressure to exclusively breastfeed has the potential to contribute to postpartum depression symptoms in new mothers who are unable to achieve their breastfeeding intentions. In this commentary, we focus on the well-being of the mother-infant dyad and argue for further research on maternal stress related to breastfeeding difficulties or pressure and the need to physically and psychologically assess and support women who are unable to breastfeed successfully or exclusively.
(Copyright © 2019 AWHONN. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)