Social media and Internet use among breastfeeding mothers with low milk supply

Background:  Women of childbearing age, “millennial moms,” use the Internet to gather information, to find and share support in virtual communities via the use of social media platforms (e.g., Facebook) and topic-specific discussion board websites. This study examines the use of the Internet and social media among new breastfeeding mothers with low milk supply, their patterns of resources used and relationship to breastfeeding outcomes.

 Methods:  Mothers with low milk supply were recruited via Internet platforms (blogs, Facebook, discussion forums) to complete an anonymous, online questionnaire between February-December 2013. Data were collected about mothers’ social media use and their breastfeeding experiences.  Comparisons are drawn between the experiences and outcomes among those who use the Internet for information-gathering only (1-way resources), those who seek/share support in virtual communities (2-way), and those favoring in-person sources of support.

Results:  Most women (72.7%) initially sought out medical professional and breastfeeding specialist advice when encountering difficulty breastfeeding.  After learning of their low milk supply, 60% sought out on-line resources, with 60% of these seeking 2-way resources.  About one-third continued to use on-line resources to learn about increasing milk supply and find donor milk.  Women using social media were more likely to breastfeed to at least 2 months (74% vs. 63%).

Conclusions:  Understanding the information and support needs of breastfeeding mothers with low milk supply and how they seek to satisfy those needs can inform those who provide breastfeeding support, about effective messaging and adaptation to communication channels to reach the greatest number of mothers.