TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Is there any point in me doing this?’ Views and experiences of women in the Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing (DAME) trial
AU - Moorhead, Anita M.
AU - Amir, Lisa H.
AU - Forster, Della A.
AU - Crawford, Sharinne B.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the women who graciously found the time to participate in the interviews. We would like to acknowledge the DAME team—Susan E Jacobs, Peter G. Davis, Susan P. Walker, Kerri M. McEgan, Gillian F. Opie, Susan M. Donath, Lisa Gold, Catharine McNamara, Amanda Aylward, Christine East, Rachael Ford. National Health and Medical Research Council (NHRMC), Australia, project grant (no. 1005345) and NHMRC and La Trobe University equipment grants.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors. Maternal & Child Nutrition published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2022/4
Y1 - 2022/4
N2 - The Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing (DAME) randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in 2011–2015, at six sites in Melbourne, Australia to explore the effect of advising women with diabetes in pregnancy to express breast milk from 36 weeks gestation. Infants whose mothers were randomised to express in pregnancy were more likely to be exclusively breast milk fed during their hospital stay, and there was no evidence of harm. This paper explores women's views and experiences of antenatal expressing. In this two-arm RCT, 635 women with diabetes in pregnancy who were otherwise of low medical risk were randomised at 36–37 weeks gestation to usual care (not expressing, n = 316), or the intervention, where women were advised to hand express for 10 min twice daily until birth (n = 319). Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 women who expressed antenatally. They were asked about their experiences of antenatal expressing, including how they felt about the overall experience, the amount of breast milk they expressed, making time to express, and their experience of breastfeeding. Thematic analysis of the in-depth interviews identified six themes: (1) learning and adapting expressing, (2) feelings and sensations associated with expressing, (3) support, (4) dis/empowerment, (5) health, and (6) the value of breast milk. Women had both positive and negative experiences of antenatal expressing. If health professionals are advising antenatal expressing to women, it is important they understand the range of outcomes and experiences.
AB - The Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing (DAME) randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in 2011–2015, at six sites in Melbourne, Australia to explore the effect of advising women with diabetes in pregnancy to express breast milk from 36 weeks gestation. Infants whose mothers were randomised to express in pregnancy were more likely to be exclusively breast milk fed during their hospital stay, and there was no evidence of harm. This paper explores women's views and experiences of antenatal expressing. In this two-arm RCT, 635 women with diabetes in pregnancy who were otherwise of low medical risk were randomised at 36–37 weeks gestation to usual care (not expressing, n = 316), or the intervention, where women were advised to hand express for 10 min twice daily until birth (n = 319). Semistructured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 10 women who expressed antenatally. They were asked about their experiences of antenatal expressing, including how they felt about the overall experience, the amount of breast milk they expressed, making time to express, and their experience of breastfeeding. Thematic analysis of the in-depth interviews identified six themes: (1) learning and adapting expressing, (2) feelings and sensations associated with expressing, (3) support, (4) dis/empowerment, (5) health, and (6) the value of breast milk. Women had both positive and negative experiences of antenatal expressing. If health professionals are advising antenatal expressing to women, it is important they understand the range of outcomes and experiences.
KW - antenatal expressing experience
KW - breast milk
KW - breastfeeding
KW - diabetes
KW - pregnancy
KW - qualitative research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121556901&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/mcn.13307
DO - 10.1111/mcn.13307
M3 - Article
C2 - 34939318
AN - SCOPUS:85121556901
SN - 1740-8709
VL - 18
JO - Maternal & Child Nutrition
JF - Maternal & Child Nutrition
IS - 2
M1 - e13307
ER -