"They Didn't Know How to Support Me": The Experiences of Transgender Men and Non-Binary People With Chestfeeding.
Erin Ziegler, Barbara Chyzzy, Erin Kuri and 4 others
PMID 41711276WHAT IT FOUND
For transgender men and non-binary people, chestfeeding support was essential when it respected pronouns, privacy, and gender-inclusive language.
Missing these supports made care invalidating, and little knowledge about testosterone left participants without practical guidance.
Key findings
01Access to support from partners, family, friends, or health professionals was the most prominent facilitator to chestfeeding.
02Lack of gender-affirming care was the most frequently noted barrier to receiving chestfeeding support.
03Lack of knowledge from health professionals was a barrier, including about testosterone while chestfeeding.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only eight participants were included, all from one Canadian province, so transferability to other settings may be limited. Trans men were more represented than non-binary people, and Indigenous, First Nations, Métis, and Two-Spirit perspectives were not included. The study was qualitative, so it cannot show that particular supports improve chestfeeding outcomes.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the Faculty of Community Services Seed Grant at Toronto Metropolitan University, and the authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that gender-affirming support improves chestfeeding outcomes; this was a qualitative study, so it reports what participants experienced, not how well any intervention worked.