Background: One in three women experiences intimate partner violence during her lifetime. Intimate partner violence causes physical, psychological, and sexual harm, jeopardising human rights, global sustainability, and the health and well-being of women and children. Qualitative research on intimate partner violence and breastfeeding is sparse, but both breastfeeding and exposure to intimate partner violence have previously been shown to evoke existential questions. Women experiencing intimate partner violence seem to doubt their ability to breastfeed and have a shorter breastfeeding duration. The aim of the study is to explain and understand women’s lived experience of intimate partner violence manifestations during the breastfeeding period.

Methods: The study employs a lifeworld hermeneutical approach, grounded in caring science and existential philosophy. The data comprises forty-nine written lifeworld stories and nine lifeworld interviews by women with lived experience of intimate partner violence during breastfeeding. Kelly’s feminist theory, ‘The continuum of violence’ underpins the main interpretation.

Results: The seven interpreted themes of intimate partner violence manifestations during breastfeeding show that women are being: accused, devalued, neglected, controlled, opposed, forced to adapt, and punished. The main interpretation suggests that the manifestations form a multidimensional continuum. The manifestations are intertwined and hold different meanings for different women, existing due to patriarchal structures that uphold female oppression and objectification.  The woman-child intimacy and dependency change the intersubjective power balance of the partner relationship, which provokes some partners.

Conclusion: The study shows that the breastfeeding period, intertwined with motherhood and female embodiment, implies a particular vulnerability to intimate partner violence. Carers need to be aware of this to avoid exacerbating the vulnerability.

Potential impact or clinical relevance: The findings are valuable for informing healthcare professionals about how to recognise signs indicating that breastfeeding women under their care may be experiencing intimate partner violence. Highlighting women’s lived experience provides a basis for care improvement. In a Nordic context, the study also encourages reflection on the discourse surrounding equal parenting and partner involvement, given that not all partner relationships are healthy.