Exploring father’s attitudes to Infant Feeding.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding prospective fathers’ attitudes towards infant feeding and exploring their role in the infant feeding experience.
IRAS ID
184068
Contact name
Kelly S Weir
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of the west of Scotland
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 29 days
Research summary
Breastfeeding rates in Scotland continue to be low despite a decade of improved service provision and numerous research publications which evidence the benefit for mother and child. Lanarkshire is an area where rates are particularly low, therefore this study aims to further explore attitudes to breastfeeding in Lanarkshire. Prospective fathers within the Motherwell area of Lanarkshire will be invited to participate in an interactive infant feeding workshop which will take place within NHS Lanarkshire premises. The workshop will explore the male attitude to infant feeding choices, the benefits of breastfeeding and the role the father will/can play within the breastfeeding family. Further to the workshop the participants will be invited to participate in a discussion group which will further explore the role they play and one to one follow up interview with the researcher to ascertain how the workshop influenced their infant feeding choice and/ their attitudes to breastfeeding as a whole. The workshop and discussion group will take place during the antenatal phase and the one to one interview will follow when the baby is born. All data will be collated by the research team and conclusions drawn will be fedback to participants as requested. Previous research has suggested that workshops facilitated by same sex facilitators have improved success rates and so the research team will recruit a male professional from UWS who is experienced in group work facilitation and breastfeeding. The duration of the study will be approximately 3 months however total hours of participation for each participant will be no more than 3 hours.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0169
Date of REC Opinion
29 Feb 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion