Introduction:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, stay at home orders and social distancing requirements resulted in significant lifestyle changes for many Americans, especially women and mothers. The aim of this study is to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted breastfeeding practices and general experiences faced by mothers in the United States.

Methods:

This study included the analysis of one open ended question from an online survey with a sample of US mothers (n=1861) recruited via a national survey panel. Researchers underwent two rounds of coding to find themes in participant’s responses to the open-ended questions of “if you want to, please share more about how the COVID-19 pandemic has modified or impacted your plans to feed your baby” and discussed discrepancies until reaching consensus.

Results:

71% of mothers reported moderate to extreme impact from the pandemic. Major themes that emerged were immunity benefits of breastfeeding, ease of breastfeeding from home, regret of breastfeeding cessation, limited access to resources and formula, as well as anxiety over finances and health. The mothers reported both positive and negative effects of the pandemic on breastfeeding during the pandemic.

Conclusions:

Many mothers suffered negative consequences during the pandemic as a result of a lack of resources such as lactation support as well as a lack of consistent access to infant formula. Improving the availability of affordable infant formula to mothers and supporting mothers who wish to breastfeed can improve both maternal and child health in the United States.

I would like to thank Dr. Maria Romo-Palafox for encouraging her students to explore and research topics and fields that are of interest to them. I'd like to specifically thank her for guiding and encouraging my interest in nutrition related research in the social sciences.