What to feed the baby? Pregnant women think long and hard about what is best to feed their baby and are often bombarded with conflicting messages and competing demands as they consider breastfeeding and bottle-feeding.
Two researchers at Mount A, anthropology professor Dr. Patricia Kelly-Spurles and sociology professor Dr. Judith Doyle, are studying this decision-making process.
Dr. Kelly-Spurles and Dr. Doyle recently received an operating grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), valued at $81,356, for their study — The Mothers and Babies Research Group (MABRG).
The grant was the only one awarded to an undergraduate university in Canada in the Fall 2007 competition, and the first of its kind for Mount Allison University researchers.
The study has also received funding from the New Brunswick Medical Research Fund (NB Department of Health), and Mount Allison University.
The study is a qualitative one of women’s experience and decision-making regarding breastfeeding supplementation and cessation in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
The MABRG study will seek to learn about the feelings, experiences, and decisions about breastfeeding of women in the last trimester of pregnancy and during their first six months after childbirth. Participants will be interviewed at their convenience during this time, and asked to reflect on their experiences and thoughts on breastfeeding.
Researchers are also seeking to speak with mothers about their experiences with baby feeding in general, both breastfeeding and bottle.
Dr. Kelly-Spurles and Dr. Doyle will present their preliminary findings from interviews conducted so far at the 3rd Roundtable on Baby-Friendly New Brunswick in Fredericton in March.
If you would like to learn more about the MABRG study or are interested in participating, please contact Rian Lougheed-Smith, MABRG researcher at 506-364-2631 (mabrg@mta.ca).
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