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Article
The Value of Listening to Grandmothers' Infant-Feeding Stories
The Journal of Perinatal Education
  • Jane S. Grassley, Boise State University
  • Valerie Eschiti
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2011
Disciplines
Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of storytelling as a foundation for communicating with grandmothers about breastfeeding. The benefits of storytelling are applied to an analysis of infant-feeding stories that grandmothers told during a focus group study conducted by the authors. Thirty-five grandmothers participated in the study. A qualitative content analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that grandmothers' infant-feeding stories provided insights into the people (characters) and circumstances (setting) that affected their early experiences of infant feeding. By asking grandmothers to tell their stories, health-care professionals may understand the personal and cultural context grandmothers bring to their support of new mothers and facilitate a place for grandmothers' voices to be heard.

Citation Information
Jane S. Grassley and Valerie Eschiti. "The Value of Listening to Grandmothers' Infant-Feeding Stories" The Journal of Perinatal Education (2011)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jane_grassley/11/