Effective breastfeeding support in a general practice

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of a breastfeeding support service attached to a general practice.

Design: A lactation consultant (LC) was employed in a general practice in Happy Valley. Adelaide over 12 months to provide an appropriate intervention program of education and support for mothers experiencing problems with breastfeeding. The mothers were asked to evaluate the service via a postal questionnaire. The baseline rates of women in this practice who were solely breastfeeding were determined by a retrospective questionnaire sent to all mothers of the practice whose children were 18 months to 2 1/2 years of age (168 mothers formed this baseline group). There were 119 mothers in the intervention group.

Results: There was a high, breastfeeding initiation rate for both baseline (94.6%) and intervention (93.4%) groups. There were significantly higher breastfeeding rates in the intervention group at 24 and 26 weeks (63.3% vs 51.2% at 24 weeks [p = 0.015] and 64.7% vs 50.6% at 26 weeks [p = 0.018]). While there was no significant difference in the total number of breastfeeding problems encountered by either group significantly more mothers from the baseline group suffered from engorgement and/or too much milk. Evaluation of the service indicated a high degree of satisfaction. Over 94% of the mothers found the service friendly, supportive, and useful.

Conclusions: This service provides an effective method for the support and protection of breastfeeding.