A mother’s informal social network

A mother’s informal social network is often comprised of several members including the infant’s father, her mother (infant’s grandmother), other family members, friends, peers and coworkers. Although women have varying sizes of their social networks, McInnes and Chambers report that having a large social network does not necessarily increase social support. Instead, they found that “it was more important to have a network congruent with the mother’s breastfeeding expectations and goals”.