Drawing method and infant feeding practices among refugee women

Abstract

The pressures exerted by political agendas in third world nations continue to displace many individuals daily, with mothers being greatly impacted due to their dual childbearing and child-rearing roles. Mothers arriving in a new Western country are confronted with a need to adapt into a new societal norm and healthcare system. This "shift" frequently impedes their ability to breastfeed optimally due to the clashing belief systems. Often, mothers are judged and discriminated for the way they choose to "mother" their infants. Their cultural beliefs and perspectives of infant feeding, compounded by the stressful trail of resettlement, are unknown to authorities in Western nations due to their silent unassertive nature. This chapter uses the postmodernmethodological framework to unravel themultiple truths that drive the perceptions and perspectives of infant feeding among Myanmarese and Vietnamesemothers from refugee backgrounds in Brisbane. Since the research trend of gaining visual access to the lives of mothers from refugee backgrounds is new, we also outline some tips and tricks that steered our initially rocky data collection journey. The chapter continues with ways in whichwomen from refugee backgrounds conceptualizemotherhood and infant feeding. Finally, we delineate the implications for practice and the usefulness of using drawing as research method for practitioners who work around this scope.