The MADE Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
MAternal Dietary changEs (MADE): a mixed method study of breastfeeding mothers in England
IRAS ID
363937
Contact name
Anna L Gilbertson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
478572639, PURE University of Bristol Open Access Working Paper
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Mothers who breastfeed may worry or be told that something they are eating may be causing the baby’s symptoms and change what they eat in response. Increasing numbers of mothers are being told that their baby may have an allergy. When allergy is suspected in a breastfed baby, mothers are encouraged to remove cow’s milk (dairy) and sometimes other foods from their own diet.
How common it is for mothers to change their diet in response to infant symptoms, and the impact of this, is under investigated but this study addresses this. Mothers of infants 0-12 months old in England, who are or have breastfed, will be invited by their GP to take part in a short online survey. Participants will be asked if they changed their diet during breastfeeding, how, and for what reasons. Demographic characteristics will also be collected, and analysis will involve assessing the collective prevalence and prevalence between groups to determine the risk of maternal dietary change according to factors such as socioeconomic status or how many children the mother has.
There may be lots of reasons why mothers change their diet after they have had a baby but only mothers who have changed their diet for reasons related to infant health or wellbeing, will be purposely selected from the survey participants to share their experiences in an interview. The interviews will expand on survey responses and explore mothers’ perspectives of what impact the dietary changes have had on them.
A better understanding of how common it is for mothers to change their diet during breastfeeding and insight from the mothers themselves, will help inform strategies to improve the care of breastfeeding mothers. The findings will be shared in peer-reviewed journals.REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/SW/0013
Date of REC Opinion
3 Feb 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion