Perceptions on the Reasons Influencing the Choice and Abandonment of Exclusive Breastfeeding in Muslim and Christian Women: A Phenomenological Study.
Isabel Del Mar Moreno-Ávila, Jose Manuel Martínez-Linares, Sandra García-Pintor and 4 others
PMID 40695358WHAT IT FOUND
Muslim and Christian postpartum women said returning to work, cesarean birth, and family attitudes shaped breastfeeding.
Maternity care should ask about work, birth type, and support, not assume religion alone explains choices.
Key findings
01Practising Muslim women described the Quran's recommendation to breastfeed for 2 years as influencing their intention to continue breastfeeding.
02Returning to work 4 months after birth, or earlier, made women rethink breastfeeding, and participants described maternity leave policies as unjust.
03A family tradition of bottle feeding discouraged breastfeeding, while Muslim women described their mother-in-law as an important source of support.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted in one city with only Muslim and Christian women, so the themes may not apply to other settings or beliefs. It reports perceptions, not measured breastfeeding outcomes or effects of any intervention. Partners and other family members were not included, although they influence feeding decisions. Reported participant counts were inconsistent between the text and Table 1.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that a breastfeeding support programme works or that religion alone causes breastfeeding choices. The study describes perceptions in one city and did not test an intervention or measure breastfeeding outcomes.