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Culture and breastfeeding support

02 December 2022
Comment
02 December 2022
Volume 30 · Issue 12

Abstract

Veronica Blanco Gutierrez discusses the importance of cultural competence for healthcare professionals and how culture can influence breastfeeding perceptions and choices

The decision to breastfeed is determined by a wide range of factors, including maternal demographic characteristics and biological, social, psychological and cultural variables (Thulier and Mercer, 2009; Meedya et al, 2010; Dieterich et al, 2013). Social and cultural contexts profoundly shape human health and behaviour (Napier et al, 2017), meaning, culture is a powerful element of a woman's attitude to breastfeeding (Wambach and Spencer, 2021), and breastfeeding is intrinsically related to postpartum social support (Okyay et al, 2022). Culture is a ‘socially transmitted system of shared knowledge, beliefs and/or practices that vary across groups, and individuals within those groups’ (Hruschka and Hadley, 2008; Hernandez and Gibb, 2019). In this context, social determinants of health play a crucial role.

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