The Lived Experiences of Women Breastfeeding with Primary Low Milk Supply: an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Background: Most women can exclusively breastfeed. However, a small cohort are unable to produce enough milk to exclusively breastfeed due to having primary low milk supply (PLMS). There is a gap in the literature on the lived experiences of women breastfeeding with PLMS. Aim: To understand the lived experiences of women who have breastfed with PLMS. Method: A qualitative research methodology, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), was used. Nine participants were recruited. Data were collected through in-depth, unstructured interviews and analysed using IPA. Findings: Four superordinate themes were identified. Being in the Whirlwind captured the emotional and psychological challenges faced by participants in the months postpartum as they sought help with breastfeeding and struggled to come to terms with having PLMS. Being-with-Others provided insights into participants’ experiences of engaging with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and other women, and their experience of internalised stigma. Reimagining Motherhood, presents the impact of having PLMS on new motherhood, journeying towards self-acceptance and plans for breastfeeding a second baby. A fourth superordinate theme explored the embodied aspects of having PLMS and was addressed in a journal article. Conclusions and implications: Participants felt an embodied longing to breastfeed exclusively and to be a breastfeeding mother. When faced with the reality of having PLMS, their vision of motherhood was shattered. Participants experienced the early months postpartum as a chaotic, confusing and emotionally traumatic whirlwind, in which efforts to increase milk supply were all-consuming. They had to find a way to journey out of this whirlwind, transcend the challenges of being a mother with PLMS and make peace with their experience. The findings highlight the importance of skilled and individualized breastfeeding support for women with PLMS and illuminate specific areas for improving the care that HCPs provide to women with PLMS.