Table 2.

Characteristics of the included articles

First author (year of publication)	Country/district	Participants	Methodology	Phenomena of Interest	Setting/duration	Type of peer support	Findings
McLardie-Hore et al. (2022)[18]	Australia	10 mothers	Qualitative methods/Semi-structured in‑depth interview	Women’s experience of receiving proactive telephone-based peer support in a trial which was able to successfully increase breastfeeding maintenance at six-months	Home/20–65 min	Proactive telephone-based breastfeeding support from a trained peer volunteer for up to six months postpartum	Nonjudgmental support and guidance: nonjudgmental, compassionate and understanding positive experiences; practical advice; a social connection– more than just breastfeeding, not all support from family and friends is supportive
Clapton-Caputo et al. (2021)[19]	Australia	10 mothers	Qualitative descriptive approach/Semi-structured in‑depth interview	Mothers’ experiences and expectations of breastfeeding support in social media groups	Video chat or telephone/unstated duration	Social media support group	(1) Expecting and experiencing emotional support; (2) Receiving information to manage exclusive expressing
Lok et al. (2021)[8]	China/ Hongkong	5 mothers	Qualitative methods/In-depth interview	Mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding peer support	Telephone/Unstated duration	Five postnatal home-based visits with a trained volunteer peer supporter over a six month period	(1)Peer supporters provide positive knowledge and emotional support; (2)Peer support helps to increase confidence in breastfeeding; (3)Desire for peer support early and more contact via digital technologies
Black et al. (2020)[20]	UK/Northern Ireland	8 mothers	Exploratory qualitative approach/Semi-structured interview	Mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding support in a Facebook social media group	Public coffee shops/20–40 min	Social media breastfeeding support provided by volunteer peer supporters and moderated by administrators to ensure evidence-based information is being provided	(1)Increased breastfeeding self-efficacy; (2) Contributing factors: ‘education’, ‘accessibility’, ‘normalizing’, ‘extended goals’, and ‘online community’
Clarke et al. (2020)[12]	UK/England	30 mothers	Qualitative methods/ Interview	Mothers’ experience, acceptability, and satisfaction with breastfeeding peer support and perceived barriers or facilitators to effective delivery	Home/ 45–90 min	Proactive, woman-centred support using an assets-based approach provided by a paid peer support service or volunteers	(1) Care about the timing to receive the support; (2) Active support is valuable, prefer short message support; (3) Peer support provides social support and restructure the social environment
Ingram et al. (2020)[21]	UK/England	21 mothers	Qualitative methods /Semi-structured interview	Mothers’ views of the different components of breastfeeding peer support	Home/45–90 min	Proactive, woman-centred support using an assets-based approach provided by a paid peer support service or trained volunteers	(1) Early opportunities for infant feeding conversations/continuity of helper; (2) Mapping the friends and family tree; (3) Keeping in touch using proactive texting; (4) Knowing about local groups and assets; (5) Woman-centred approach
Kabakian-Khasholian et al. (2019)[11]	Lebanon	22 mothers	Cross-sectional, prospective, two group qualitative design/In-depth interview	Mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding peer support and the influence of the intervention on their social support system	Home/unstated duration	Postpartum peer telephone support provided by trained volunteering mothers	(1)Mothers valued the support from their peers and the IBCLCs. They appreciated the support provided by the IBCLCs much more than the peer support. (2) The main contribution of peer supporters as perceived by the mothers was the provision of moral support, which was perceived to be important in encouraging breastfeeding continuation; (3)Breastfeeding women did not enhance their social groups by including the peer supporters; (4)Breastfeeding mothers reached out to other mothers in their social circle.
Quinn et al. (2019)[13]	Ireland	15 mothers	Exploratory qualitative methods/Semi-structured interview	Mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding support groups	Online video/unstated duration	Volunteer breastfeeding support groups which are held in the community, are ongoing, with contact initiated by the mother, and run by trained breastfeeding counsellors	(1) Complexity of breastfeeding support; (2) Community and connection; (3) Impact of culture on breastfeeding needs; (4) The journey; (5) Passing on; (6) What mothers want.
Regan et al. (2019)[22]	UK/South Wales	14 mothers	Descriptive qualitative approach/Semi-structured interview	Mothers’ experiences of breastfeeding support in social media groups	Unstated setting/ 30–60 min	Online breastfeeding support: Facebook groups and forums where individuals engaged with each other	(1) Mothers were drawn to online support due to a lack of professional, familial, and partner support. (2) Benefits of online support: reassurance and normalizing, someone who has been through it, circle of peer support. (3) Limitations of online support: judgement, polarised debate; lack of regulation.
Robinson et al. (2019)[17]	America	22 African-American mothers	Prospective, cross-sectional qualitative study/Focus group	Experiences of African American mothers who participate in breastfeeding support groups on Facebook; mothers’ breastfeeding beliefs, decisions, and outcomes	Online video conferencing/ 60–90 min	Facebook group providing mom-to-mom breastfeeding support	(1) Creating a community for Black mothers; (2) Online interactions and levels of engagement; (3) Advantages of participating in online support groups, (4) Critiques of online support groups; (5) Empowerment of self and others, (6) Shifts in breastfeeding perceptions and decisions.
Robinson et al. (2016)[23]	America	9 African mothers	Qualitative methods/Focus group	Mothers’ breastfeeding experiences and the effect of breastfeeding peer counselors	Unstated	Peer support through clinic visits, telephone calls during the pregnancy and postpartum time periods, and in-hospital and in-home visits	(1) Educating with truth; (2) Validating for confidence; (3) Countering others’ negativity; (4)Supporting with solutions.
Ingram et al. (2013)[24]	UK/Bristol	163 mothers for survey and 14 mothers for interview	Concurrent triangulation mixed methods approach/On-line questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview	Mothers’ views of the targeted peer support service	Telephone and face-to-face interview/Understated	Targeted service of trained peer supporters providing antenatal and postnatal breastfeeding support	(1)Antenatal opportunity for knowledge; (2)Postnatal reassurance; (3)Encouragement and self-confidence; (4)Challenges of peer support–partners, building trust, role conflict.
Thomson et al. (2012)[25]	UK/north-west England	47 mothers	Qualitative exploratory approach/Focus group/Semi-structured in-depth interview	Mothers’ experiences, facilitators, barriers and challenges faced in the introduction of a breastfeeding peer support service	Face-to-face interviews were held at women’s homes/telephone interview/25–80 min	The Star Buddies service comprises trained paid and voluntary local breastfeeding mothers who provide antenatal/hospital and community breastfeeding peer support	(1) Providing realistic assessments across varying situational contexts; (2) Forming strategies and plans to help women overcome any obstacles; (3) Making women aware of any negative outcomes; (4) Mobilising external and personal resources to facilitate goal attainment; (5) Providing evaluations and feedback on women’s (and infants’) progress; (6) Helping women to focus their energy to achieve their breastfeeding goals.
Nankunda et al. (2010)[26]	Uganda	370 mothers	Mixed methods/Semi-structured interview	Women’s experiences of peer counselling for exclusive breastfeeding in an East African setting	Mothers’ homes/unstated duration	Individual peer counselling was offered to women, scheduled as five visits: before childbirth and during weeks 1, 4, 7 and 10 after childbirth. The trained peer counsellors were regularly supervised.	(1) Satisfaction with explanations by peer counsellors; (2) Spending enough time; (3) Usefulness of visits by peer counsellor, (4) Free interaction between peer counsellors and the women; (5) Future peer counselling is welcome.
Hoddinott et al. (2006)[27]	Scotland	206 women for survey/21 women for interview/8 groups for observation	Multi-method action research approach/Semi-structured interview/Observation/Focus group/Questionnaire survey	Women’s perceptions of one-to-one and group-based breastfeeding peer coaching and why groups were more popular	Interview held at women’s homes/Unstated duration	Group-based and one-to-one untrained peer coaching	Reasons for breastfeeding groups more popular than one-to-one coaching: socialising, normalising, and improving well-being by attending groups; visual experiences and breastfeeding during a group; diversity of communication in groups. Women often felt initial anxiety when attending a group for the first time, and they expressed doubt that one set of ‘‘breastfeeding rules’’ would suit everyone. One-to-one peer coaching was perceived as a greater risk to confidence and empowerment than group-based peer coaching.