Thread by @LLLGB

#DebbieWade Midwife, health visitor & PhD student from @NorthumbriaUni is speaking now about Sustaining breastfeeding and social media (Reaching the hard to reach) based on her work exploring how a closed Facebook group influenced breastfeeding experiences #bfconf

Existing research on using Facebook for breastfeeding support includes "The faces of breastfeeding support: Experiences of mothers seeking breastfeeding support online" 2016 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27188074/

and Exploring Social Media Group Use Among Breastfeeding Mothers:
Qualitative Analysis 2018 researchgate.net/publication/32…

#DebbieWade: in her research she aimed to discover what women find helpful/unhelpful, if the group helps women to fb for longer, what the demographics of the group's members are, if the group empowers, improves self-efficacy, helps members access other support #bfconf

#DebbieWade: women used the Facebook group for information, advice, support, humour, timely help, to find out what's going on and to lurk. She was particularly interested in women choosing a different path to their cultural norm #bfconf

#DebbieWade: early results of her research suggest for women for whom bf is not the social norm the Facebook group helps them to normalise bf & continue to bf, particularly for the older baby. Women use social media, how can HCPs harness this as part of their offer?...#bfconf

#DebbieWade results cont.: The Facebook group should be part of a package of support. Timely, proactive face-to-face support by skilled people remains paramount #bfconf