A review of the literature indicated that the majority of Vietnamese mothers bottle fed their infants after migration to western countries. Those who breast fed weaned their infants very early. This study aimed to explore, from the Vietnamese mothers' perspective, their experiences of infant feeding and the attributes of nurses, midwives, other health professionals and the health care system that were considered to be important in encouraging the immigrant Vietnamese women to breast feed in Sydney, Australia. A convenience sample of 124 postnatal Vietnamese women were recruited from the western and southwestern suburbs of Sydney of New South Wales, Australia. In-depth interviews were conducted in the privacy of the respondents' homes. An ethnographic approach guided the concurrent data collection and content analysis. Through constant comparison of categories, nine concepts emerged from the findings to describe the women's process of decision making, experiences and perceptions of breast feeding: believing, complying, rewarding, facing the unexpected, experiencing pleasure and pain, fulfilling, communicating, counselling and supporting. These findings highlighted the significance of social, cultural and economic factors which influenced the women's decisions and maintenance of breast feeding. Implications for nursing practice and further research are discussed.
