The Multiplicity of Breastfeeding: A Case Study on Online Voluntary Breastfeeding Counselling
Translated title
Amningens Multiplicitet: En case undersøgelse af online frivillig ammevejledning
Author
Engstrøm, Thea Sofie Skjødt
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2022
Submitted on
2022-06-15
Pages
70
Abstract
This thesis examines how online voluntary breastfeeding counselling provided by Ammenet.dk supports Danish mothers who experience breastfeeding difficulties, in a context where many perceive public counselling as insufficient. Using a qualitative case study based on online interviews and document analysis of Ammenet.dk’s Wiki, Facebook peer groups, and weekly Q&A, it analyzes how mothers use and experience these resources and how this shapes their ways of understanding and addressing feeding problems. Drawing on a material-semiotic perspective from science and technology studies (including post-ANT and the notion of ontological multiplicity), the thesis shows that Ammenet.dk shares evidence-based knowledge and normalizes multiple ways of feeding a child with breastmilk, including the use of technologies. This approach equips mothers to redefine their problems, enact solutions that fit their lived experiences, and to experience themselves as breastfeeding mothers. The study argues that breastfeeding, the breastfeeding body, and motherhood are not singular entities but hybrids shaped by personal experience, medical knowledge, technologies, communities, and financial and legal conditions, coordinated in an ontological choreography. In doing so, online voluntary counselling complements public services by accommodating ambiguity and multiplicity in both problems and solutions.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan online frivillig ammevejledning fra Ammenet.dk understøtter danske mødre, der oplever ammeudfordringer, i en kontekst hvor mange finder den offentlige vejledning utilstrækkelig. Gennem et kvalitativt casestudie, baseret på online interviews og dokumentanalyse af bl.a. Ammenet.dk’s Wiki, Facebook-grupper og ugentlige brevkasse, analyseres hvordan mødre bruger og erfarer disse tilbud, og hvordan det påvirker deres måder at forstå og håndtere ammeproblemer på. Med afsæt i et material-semiotisk perspektiv fra science and technology studies (bl.a. post-ANT og ideen om ontologisk multiplicitet) viser specialet, at Ammenet.dk deler evidensbaseret viden og normaliserer flere måder at give barnet modermælk på, også ved hjælp af teknologier. Denne tilgang giver mødre sprog og handlemuligheder til at omdefinere deres problemer, afprøve løsninger der passer til deres erfaringer, og opleve sig selv som ammende mødre. Specialet argumenterer for, at amning, ammekroppen og moderskabet ikke er entydige størrelser, men hybrider formet af personlige erfaringer, medicinsk viden, teknologier, fællesskaber samt økonomiske og juridiske rammer, som koordineres i en slags ontologisk koreografi. Derved komplementerer den frivillige online vejledning de offentlige indsatser ved at rumme tvetydighed og mangfoldighed i både problemer og løsninger.
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Keywords
amning ; frivillig ; online ; multiplicitet ; ontologi