The psychology of breastfeeding
Type of research: To be determined, depending on chosen concrete research question
Description:
Breastfeeding has many advantages for mothers and babies. For mothers, it reduces the risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer. For babies, it boosts their healthy development. However, many mothers experience troubles with breastfeeding. Only 40% of mothers worldwide manage to exclusively breastfeed for six months, while the WHO and UNICEF aim for 70% by 2030. The scientific knowledge about the physiology of breastfeeding and the breastmilk itself is low compared to other fields. Though is the state of the art of psychological processes related to breastfeeding.
This Bachelor thesis is in collaboration with Nienke Bosschaart from the group Biomedical Photonic Imaging at the UT. Nienke is working on optical technology that allows to learn more about lactation and breastfeeding, especially exploring an optical tool to quantify how much milk is transferred to the baby during breastfeeding and to better monitor the nutrition of premature babies.
You will explore and identify the most relevant psychological processes related to breastfeeding and the decision to continue or stop breastfeeding and you will study these processes empirically in breastfeeding mothers. At the end of your bachelor thesis project, you will be able to advice the interdisciplinary collaboration about the focus of future projects to improve mothers wellbeing and decisions related to breastfeeding.