A Concept Analysis of Intergenerational Legacies in Lactation Decision-Making.

Authors

Alicia M Logan, Katilya S Ware

Published in

Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association. Pages 8903344261470642. Aug 06, 2026. Epub Aug 06, 2026.

Abstract

Intergenerational influences on infant feeding are widely recognized across disciplines, yet the concept of intergenerational legacies in lactation decision-making remains inconsistently defined in the literature. Terms such as "intergenerational transmission," "generational influence," "grandmother support," and "cultural transmission" are used interchangeably without conceptual precision. For African American women, intergenerational legacies carry the additional weight of American enslavement, forced wet nursing, and structural racism, adding distinct dimensions that have not been formally analyzed.
The purpose of this concept analysis is to identify the defining attributes, antecedents, and consequences of intergenerational legacies in lactation decision-making.
Walker and Avant's eight-step framework guided this analysis. An interdisciplinary literature search was conducted across PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Embase, and Scopus for peer-reviewed articles published in English from 2000 through 2025, spanning nursing, public health, anthropology, sociology, and family science.
Three defining attributes were identified: (1) intergenerational transmission of lactation knowledge and beliefs, (2) historical and cultural context shaping feeding perceptions, and (3) adaptive responses across generations. Model, borderline, related, and contrary cases illustrate the concept's boundaries. Antecedents include multigenerational family structures, previous generations' feeding experiences, intergenerational communication pathways, and the historical context of enslavement. Consequences include shaping of maternal feeding attitudes, influence on lactation self-efficacy, and perpetuation or disruption of feeding norms.
This analysis provides the first formal definition of intergenerational legacies in lactation decision-making, offering a theoretical foundation for culturally responsive research and practice across populations, with particular application to communities shaped by historical disruption of intergenerational knowledge transmission.

PMID:
42562810
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Aug 2026.

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