Breastfeeding perceptions of first time mothers: A metaphor analysis

Abstract

Our purpose in the present study is to determine mothers’ perceptions of breastfeeding through metaphors. This is qualitative, cross-sectional and descriptive study. The present study included 33 volunteer mothers who gave birth vaginally for the first time, received care in the postpartum service, and breastfed their babies at least 10 times. To reveal the metaphors related to the concept of breastfeeding, each mother was asked to complete the sentence “Breastfeeding is like… because….” The perceptions of the mothers about breastfeeding were gathered under three main themes: positive, negative and neutral metaphors. The identified metaphors were divided into five categories: indescribable emotion, peace, healing, task and inflicting pain. The mothers produced more positive metaphors about breastfeeding.