Health care providers’ perceived barriers to providing breastfeeding support in Northwest rural China

Background Health care providers have been playing important roles in supporting breastfeeding. Although there has been insufficient actual breastfeeding support from health care providers in China, little research has been conducted to understand Chinese health care providers’ perceived barriers to providing breastfeeding support, especially in rural China. This study aimed to identify health care providers’ perceived barriers to providing breastfeeding support in Northwestern rural China. Methods A total of 41 health care providers were recruited by purposive sampling in two Northwest rural counties in China. These included obstetrician-gynecologists, midwives, nurses, village doctors, and township and village maternal and child health workers. Data were collected using semi-structured, one-on-one in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with qualitative design. Transcripts were thematically analyzed. Results Data from the interviews revealed four themes that the participants perceived as barriers in supporting breastfeeding. The four themes include: (1) lack of medical resources, (2) unclear responsibility designation at the individual level, (3) incompetency of health care providers, and (4) difficulty in accessing mothers. Conclusions Multiple barriers were perceived by health care providers in providing breastfeeding support. The specific breastfeeding support roles of different health care providers who serve for women and children need to be further clarified. Skillful training and technical support on breastfeeding are needed to match different health care providers’ specific responsibilities. The approaches of mobile health-based interventions to support breastfeeding can be explored in the future.