The research, design and development of a new breastfeeding chair

This chapter provides unique data on the design of a 'fit-for-purpose' chair for

breastfeeding mothers and demonstrates the value of multi-disciplinary team

working. In this chapter, the work undertaken by one of the authors (Lynn

Jones) for her PhD, supervised by Sally Kendall, is presented. The aim of the

research was to develop an understanding of the needs of breastfeeding

women in terms of a chair to provide the best support for them when they

were breastfeeding. The work brought together theory and knowledge from

the discipline of furniture design with theory relating to breastfeeding and case

study research, making use of qualitative methods of data collection. The

chapter demonstrates the necessity for a holistic and comprehensive assessment

of a human problem, and the process of development of solutions for

subsequent design and testing of a product that meets the assessed need.