Article History
Received: 8 November 2017
Accepted: 28 May 2018
First Online: 15 June 2018
Authors’ information
: Nicole Bridges is a full-time lecturer in public relations and is also a part-time PhD candidate at Western Sydney University, researching online social networking and breastfeeding support. She has over 25 years’ experience in the retail marketing and public relations field. Nicole has been an active volunteer with the Australian Breastfeeding Association for over 15 years and holds a Certificate IV in Breastfeeding Education, plus a Certificate IV in Training and Education. Nicole was also recently announced as the winner of the Mary Paton Research Award 2015.Gwyneth Howell (Ph. D., University of Western Australia) is an Associate Professor of digital and social communication at Western Sydney University, Australia. Her research focuses on crisis and disaster management and response techniques, social and digital communication, public policy, and covers a variety of topics (including natural disasters, corporate social responsibility, education, and urban animal management). She has published in journals including the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Global Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Emergency Management and Public Relations Review.Virginia Schmied is Professor of Midwifery and Director of Research in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University and holds a Visiting Professorship at University of Central Lancashire (UK). She has a strong national and international reputation in the field of maternal and child health and her research addresses the infant feeding and breastfeeding, social and emotional health and well-being of women and men in the transition to parenthood, and researching improvements in service delivery and professional practice. She is particularly interested in how relationship-based care leads to improved health outcomes for mothers, babies and their families.
: Approval for the study was provided by the Australian Breastfeeding Association and Western Sydney University, Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number H9010). All participants were issued with written information about the study and signed a consent form before the interviews and focus groups taking place. They were assured of the voluntary nature of participation, that they could withdraw at any time, and that their interview and focus group data would be treated confidentially.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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