Exclusive breastfeeding and participation in daily life: An occupational perspective of motherhood

Abstract

Introduction: Exclusive breastfeeding is immersed in a debate. On the one hand, is considered that this phenomenon revolves around speeches related to models biomedical, social and patriarchal impacting on the role of women and on the other hand, there is a social movement which advocates this errand of motherhood. While the literature indicates that the fact breastfeeding influences the occupational participation-both in the diversity and in the significance of daily activities- there is enough evidence in this respect. Objective: To understand the impact of exclusive breastfeeding in a group of Chilean women occupational participation. Method: exploratory study of qualitative nature carried out by intentional sampling with ten Chilean mothers. The semi-structured information collection interview was used. Data were analysed through the encoding process. Results: The narratives of the mothers around the impact of exclusive breastfeeding in occupational engagement, refer to as breastfeeding: occupation imposition or significant generating changes in the occupational transition of the maternity and the choice of new occupations. The influence of the context public health that explains and consolidates this phenomenon. Finally, roles as mother women or women mother inviting you to rebuild and re - think new occupational identities and gender roles associated with breastfeeding. Conclusion: To establish a direct relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and the occupational participation of women, therefore it is essential to understand the cultural construction of this phenomenon and its implications, occupational, personal and contextual.