Impact of Baby-friedly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) Training Program on Breastfeeding Practices

Mansoura University

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Breastfeeding Outcomes

Treatments: Behavioral: Baby-friendly hospital initiative training program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06824597

breastfeeding

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to evaluate the impact of Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative training program on nurses' and mothers' breastfeeding practices and experiences.

Research Hypotheses

• Maternity nurses who participate in the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative training program exhibit improvement in breastfeeding practice scores and more positive breastfeeding experiences after the training program than before.
• Breastfeeding mothers who receive Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative support have good breastfeeding practices and more positive breastfeeding experiences.

Full description

Breastfeeding is a long-time investment in women's and babies' lives, not just a personal decision. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breast milk as the most appropriate food for infants under six months of age. Breast milk contains all the nutrients that babies need in the first six months of life, so it is an ideal food for infants . Children who were breastfed had a lower risk of obesity and chest problems. Furthermore, breastfeeding mothers also benefited from breastfeeding, with lower rates of breast cancer, ovarian cancer, type II diabetes, and postnatal depression.

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) has been identified as the single most effective intervention for child survival, with the potential to prevent 13% of under-five deaths annually in low- and middle-income settings . WHO and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recommend optimal infant and young child feeding as immediate and early initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, EBF for the first 6 months of life, and with complementary feeding up to 2 years of age.

Early cessation of breastfeeding is a public health concern, especially in high-income countries, where only 25% of children were breastfeeding at 12 months of age, far below the global average of 74%. Women often cited difficulties, including low milk supply, painful nipples, and latching problems, as reasons for breastfeeding cessation. In addition, other factors, including lack of support or feeding advice, formula use, and returning to work, also contributed to breastfeeding cessation.

Evidence-based breastfeeding support is important for achieving breastfeeding recommendations, preventing morbidity and mortality, and promoting sustainable development goals. Thus, WHO and UNICEF have set a goal to increase breastfeeding rates to 75% in early infancy, 50% at six months, and 25% at one year of age.The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program launched in 1991 by UNICEF and WHO to protect, promote and support breastfeeding in all maternity services. It requires all facilities that apply for the status of "Baby-Friendly Hospital" to provide maternity care to follow the "Ten Steps for the Successful Promotion of Breastfeeding" .

One of the 10 steps in this initiative is to have a written infant feeding policy that is routinely communicated to staff and parents. Step 2 requires the training of all healthcare staff in skills that are necessary to implement the policy. Healthcare providers play a key role in the beginning and continuity of the correct applications in breastfeeding and "Baby Friendly Hospital" criteria in society.In controlled studies, it was seen that training the nurses about BFHI principles increases their breastfeeding knowledge and practice scores and exclusive breastfeeding rates.

Enrollment: 142 estimated patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18 to 50 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

For nurses: all nurses who were working at inpatient postpartum wards and the delivery unit in Mansoura University Hospital with at least one year of work experience and who were providing direct care to the mothers and their newborns

For mothers:

• Who had the intention to breastfeed.
• Primiparous women
• Age between 18 and 35 years.
• Who had given birth to a singleton baby.
• Free from serious medical or obstetrical complications.

Exclusion criteria

• Breastfeeding mothers will be excluded from the study if their baby had:

  • Born before 37 weeks of gestation.
  • An Apgar score of less than 8 at 5 minutes.
  • A birthweight of less than 2,500 g.
  • Born with severe medical conditions or congenital malformations.
  • Admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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142 participants in 2 patient groups

training program for nurses

Experimental group

Description:

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative training program will be conducted for maternity nurses at the inpatient postpartum wards (9, 10, 15 and 18) and the delivery unit in Mansoura University Hospital (MCH), Dakahlia governorate, Egypt.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Baby-friendly hospital initiative training program

evaluating the outcome of the training program on breastfeeding mothers' practices

No Intervention group

Description:

Before the training program, the first group of mothers (47 mothers) will be interviewed at the postpartum wards after delivery and the researcher will evaluate their self-reported breastfeeding practices during their hospital stay. After the training program, the second group (homogeneous) of mothers (47 mothers) will be interviewed at the postpartum wards after delivery and the researcher will evaluate their self-reported breastfeeding practices during their hospital stay.