Design research with Mamilla: Insights into breastfeeding

freyaridgwell
Oct 23, 2024
7 min read

Updated: Dec 21, 2024

Introduction

Hello! We are Mamilla, a group of six women studying Design Engineering at Imperial College London, looking to encourage, empower and educate mothers to pursue breastfeeding. Through this series of six content pieces, we will endeavour to outline the process we took and are still undertaking to develop our idea, as well as share some experiences and reflections gathered along the way. This first article will outline how we took our idea from an initial lead into infant parenting through to defining our opportunity area in breastfeeding, as well as highlight key processes such as parent and expert interviews which helped to facilitate this narrowing. We will delve into the key insights and problems we identified from this design research.

The Approach

Crucial to our success is the design process we followed, as taught extensively in our modules at university. Central to this was the widely taught ‘double diamond’ framework developed by the British Design Council (1). The ‘double diamond’ shape helps to visualise areas of divergent and convergent thinking, guiding people to identify a problem and find a solution to it. As depicted below, the diamond encompasses the four main areas: discover, define, develop and deliver where discover and develop sections encourage wide exploration and focus on honing in and refinement. The chronology of a project loosely follows the diamond from left to right, but can include multiple cycles and movement between sections throughout a project, therefore will adapt to suit the project’s requirements.

Our Process: Discovery

Within the first diamond, we made the following three steps to develop our idea where the main driver for progress was conducting interviews:

Determine our user base: How wide is our audience and who are we designing for?
Scope the problems our users face: What is the purpose of our idea?
Define our problem: What is the crux of the problem and how might we go about resolving it?

Having found a potential spark in the field of infant parenting, we worked in the divergent ‘discovery phase’ by quickly gathering as much information about parenting considerations as possible through multiple interview stages. Here it was key to identify people we could get in contact with easily, which included firstly our parents and then members of the public with young children who were visiting the museums nearby. The interviews with the public were swift and focused on identifying key, recurring pain points, which helped us map out a picture of the infant parenting landscape where the categories ‘feeding & nutrition’, ‘sleep’ and ‘hygiene & washing ‘ were identified as three areas for potential improvement. There were multiple cycles of divergence and convergence, achieved via successive interviews and collation of information in the form of tables and posters, such as below.

Our Process: Defining

Convergent stages can sometimes feel like a bit of detective work where leads are pursued based on a combination of data, intuition and chance. For our project, our intuition lead us to dive deeper into the ‘feeding’ category and, by chance, we were put in contact with a IBCLC lactation consultant for further expert interviews (2). These subsequent interviews taught us about various struggles parents face within the specific area of navigating newborn feeding. By conducting an open ended in-depth interview, we were able to gather personal insights from their work as a lactation consultant, and document the daily struggles they observed mothers in particular go through. Their experience in the industry meant we gained a holistic view and help to direct us towards information and resources as well as start to question the systemic scale of the issue at hand.

Post processing of information gathered from interviews revealed questions for further research such as ‘what are women’s bodies designed to do?’ and ‘where do these problems stem from?’, as well as initiate initial research into products on the market which assisted the breastfeeding process.User journey mapping was then used to visually synthesise information gathered. Illustrating a clear sequence of events helped constrain the timeline and scope we were focusing on, whilst mapping out persona emotions meant we could identify areas of greatest distress and struggle. In combination, this process generated key system and immediate scale insights which would act as a summary of core information to be referred to for alignment in later stages.

What did we find out?

From the described process we gained valuable insights that shaped our understanding. We distilled these findings into three key insights, and frankly, what we learned made us angry. These core insights continue to evolve as we conduct further research and engage in more conversations. However, they have become increasingly specific over time.

1. The first insight emerged largely from discussions with lactation consultants, professionals trained in breastfeeding support: Breastfeeding is the optimal way to feed a baby for the first six months of life, but the current situation in the UK does not support this.

Breastfeeding is generally the best way to nourish a baby during their first six months. It’s what the human body is designed to do. Breast milk is not just food; its composition adapts to meet the baby’s evolving needs. The fat content, antibodies, and amino acids in breast milk adjust based on the time of day, the baby's age, and their health. For instance, if a baby falls ill, breast milk adapts to boost their immune system, helping them fight off infections. It also ensures that babies receive the right nutrients at the right time, supporting essential physiological functions, such as regulating their circadian rhythm (3). Beyond nourishment, the act of breastfeeding fosters critical bonding through skin-to-skin contact. The release of oxytocin—a hormone associated with love and bonding—helps the mother relax and stimulates milk production, creating a harmonious system where the body regulates not just milk flow but also the baby's breathing, heart rate, body temperature, and blood sugar levels. Babies are also naturally equipped to breastfeed. From birth, their “suck, breathe, swallow reflex” is triggered when the nipple reaches the right spot in their mouth, allowing them to latch and feed.

In the UK, the reality starkly contrasts with this ideal. Only 1% of parents manage to exclusively breastfeed for the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended six months (4). This is not due to a lack of intent but because of the numerous barriers they face. The current system does not adequately support all breastfeeding mothers, and many find themselves unable to continue, often resorting to formula out of necessity. While formula is really not the best option, formula company marketing specifically targets struggling mothers. Unsurprisingly, this is mainly due to the benefits to the formula companies rather than babies and their parents.

It is important to recognise that parents have the right to choose what works best for them, and formula feeding is a valid option; it saves lives. The problem is that many parents start with the intention of breastfeeding but give up due to a lack of support. Their choice to breastfeed is interfered with by a lack of resources and guidance. Another critical point, often overlooked, is the option of donor milk, which could serve as an alternative before transitioning directly to formula. Yet, this option is rarely mentioned, leaving parents with limited choices and often forcing them to move from breastfeeding straight to formula feeding. This is the challenge we are addressing: the need for better support for parents who want to breastfeed.

2. The barriers to breastfeeding are layered, interrelated, and often rooted in systemic issues.

One of the biggest obstacles to breastfeeding success is the lack of funding for the National Health Service (NHS), which leads to insufficient training for hospital staff and a rise in complicated births, particularly the increase in C-sections (6). Hospitals are also under pressure to follow tight scheduling, which reduces the time healthcare professionals can spend supporting new mothers. These first few days after birth are critical for establishing breastfeeding routines and building confidence in parents. Unfortunately, women are often let down during this period, receiving conflicting or confusing information, which can undermine their confidence and cause them to give up too soon.

Breastfeeding is not always easy. In fact, it can be quite painful in the beginning—but it shouldn’t be. Many new mothers stop breastfeeding prematurely due to misunderstandings about these initial struggles. A common scenario, often referred to as a the “breastfeeding/pumping vicious cycle”, describes how stress can interfere with the process. When mothers try to breastfeed or pump and don’t produce much milk, they worry that their bodies are failing. This anxiety disrupts the release of oxytocin, a hormone necessary for milk let-down, which further reduces milk supply (7).

This cycle of stress and low milk production can quickly lead to discouragement and mother’s falling back on formula. As one expert pointed out, “We’ve already convinced everyone that breastfeeding is great. That means when it doesn’t go so well—due to a difficult birth, for example—it can be really disappointing.” The idea of the “Golden hour” where the mother and baby initiate breastfeeding for the first time is very idealised and rarely achieved immediately. This sets parents up with expectations which are often neglected because it requires time that overburdened hospital wards simply don’t have. This lack of support and initial disappointments can interfere in a breastfeeding journey before it’s even properly begun.

3. The deeper issue is rooted in patriarchal systems and societal attitudes.

It’s no surprise that many of these issues tie back to the patriarchy. Women often bear the emotional burden of parenting, enduring pain without complaint because they’ve been conditioned to "not make a fuss." This stoic endurance has contributed to a broader disconnection from their own bodies. Many women don’t fully understand the physiological changes of pregnancy and breastfeeding because there is a cultural silence around these topics. The fetishisation and censorship of women’s bodies also mean that breastfeeding is rarely talked about or seen, adding to the feeling of isolation for new mothers. A "lost generation" of parents, many of whom used formula instead of breastfeeding, exacerbates the problem, leaving today’s new mothers with few strong role models or visible examples of breastfeeding in action. As one expert aptly described it, "Breastfeeding is a bit like learning a new sport. You learn it with your body. It’s an embodied experience, and many women sort of go: ‘Oh my god, I have a body, and now I have to use it.’" This societal disconnection from the female body, compounded by a lack of research and funding into women’s health, continues to undermine women’s confidence in their ability to breastfeed.

Mamilla began as a university project to address these exact issues. We asked ourselves how we could intervene during this critical period to combat misinformation, support mothers, and give them the confidence to continue breastfeeding. Our mission is to empower, encourage, and educate women about their own bodies and breastfeeding journeys. Particularly we are focusing on the difficulty mothers have in establishing a comfortable and optimal latch. Stay tuned for our next article, where we’ll explore how Mamilla is working to solve these problems and make breastfeeding a more supported and sustainable choice for new parents.