Resuming Breastfeeding After Surgery: Influencing Practice Recommendations

Abstract

Purpose: Mothers often request guidance on when it is safe to resume breastfeeding after surgery. At our institution, this guidance was inconsistent and not well-grounded in current research. This project sought to bring recommendations to patients in line with current evidence about when to recommend resumption of breastfeeding after surgery.

Design: A local practice guideline was developed based on our systematic review, then staff were educated about the guideline.

Methods: Transfer to clinical practice was measured by reported practice recommendations. A repeated measures design measured change in provider knowledge, recommendations, and confidence in these recommendations. A follow-up assessment was conducted at 2 years to measure long-term impact.

Findings: After the educational session, there was a two-fold increase in the number of perianesthesia staff who recommended resumption of breastfeeding as soon as the mother had recovered from anesthesia.

Conclusions: This evidence-based practice project standardized delivery of breastfeeding recommendations by perioperative staff.

Keywords: breast feeding; colostrum; drug effects; human; lactation; milk.