Breastfeeding And Its Impact On Child Development

Literature Review Name Institution Literature Review Introduction Breastfeeding is indeed important and research on its impact on child development is immense. Looking at Borra, Lacovou, and Sevilla’s (2012) research reveals that breastfeeding not only helps to improve a child’s health but also empowers or positively impacts their cognitive skills. Additionally, the research article also reveals that breastfeeding also improves a child’s non-cognitive development. The significance of breastfeeding is documented in many ways but breastfeeding education coupled with the mothers’ beliefs, decision-making, and attitudes often impact the decision to breastfeed. While some people would find it obvious that mothers should breastfeed, breastfeeding education is indeed not as widespread as it should be or is often thought to be. Therefore, the implication here is that some mothers will breastfeed while others will not. The truth is a mother’s knowledge about breastfeeding greatly impacts the final decision to breastfeed. However, from the materials used in this research, other factors do indeed impact a mother’s final decision. A comparison of research questions Researchers use different research questions and while this focuses on knowledge or education about breastfeeding, others consider other factors. For example, in Raffle’s et al (2011) research, the following are listed as research questions: * How do mothers in Appalachia perceive breastfeeding? * How do other people (e.g., healthcare providers, spouse/partner, family, friends, and workplace interactions) influence a mother’s decision to initiate and/or continue breastfeeding? * How does the community (e.g., social norms) influence a mother’s decision to initiate and/or continue breastfeeding? * How do organizations (e.g., healthcare providers) influence a mother’s decision to initiate and/or continue breastfeeding? * How does policy influence breastfeeding in Appalachia? In the above questions, the researcher was focused on trying to establish any external factors which can influence breastfeeding. In another study, Radzyminski and Callister (2016) used the following: * What are the perceptions of mothers regarding their infant feeding choices? In both sets, the researchers are trying to determine what influences mothers especially when they are making the decision to breastfeed their infants for the period of time they choose. The factors could be external (social norms, policies, organizations, and other people) or internal (knowledge about breastfeeding, and personal beliefs, attitudes towards the same). The question I chose to investigate or guide me in my study simply seeks to determine how the presence or lack thereof of breastfeeding education impacts a mother’s decision to initiate breastfeeding. My question is quite specific in its goal or objective. * How does knowledge about breastfeeding vs. none, impact a mother’s decis...