AMERICAN JOURNAL OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
Exploring the Perceptions & Experiences of Breastfeeding Mothers During COVID 19 Lockdown

Alex Igundunasse 1 * , Georgina Oluwayemisi Messigah 2, Nathan Osareme Odiase 3, Chineta Ewelike 1

AM J QUALITATIVE RES, Volume 6, Issue 1, pp. 188-213

https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/11994

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought its attendant health and social challenges to people worldwide. Some categories of people who endured most of the COVID-19 pandemic peculiarly were breastfeeding mothers and their infants given the lockdown that followed because it created an unfriendly atmosphere. Consequently, this study sought to explore the perceptions and experiences of breastfeeding mothers during the lockdown in various parts of the world. Interviews were conducted over WhatsApp telephone calls using a purposeful and homogenous sample of 6 mothers who volunteered to participate in the research. Using the dictates of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), interview recordings were transcribed, coded, and analyzed to capture the idiographic experiences of participants. Findings revealed the emergence of major themes like the adjustment, protective, and psychological impact that summed up the experiences of breastfeeding mothers. Areas of limitation of the study are highlighted, and direction of future research proposed.

Keywords: Breastfeeding mothers, COVID-19 Pandemic, experiences, IPA, perceptions

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