Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress 2023 EHA Congress 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

ACC 2024 Congress

Catch up on all the top stories and latest evidence in cardiology research with our ACC 2024 Congress hub page.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
International Breastfeeding Journal
Published in: International Breastfeeding Journal 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Review

Breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes of health professional students: a systematic review

Authors: Shu-Fei Yang, Yenna Salamonson, Elaine Burns, Virginia Schmied

Published in: International Breastfeeding Journal | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Breastfeeding support from health professionals can be effective in influencing a mother’s decision to initiate and maintain breastfeeding. However, health professionals, including nursing students, do not always receive adequate breastfeeding education during their foundational education programme to effectively help mothers. In this paper, we report on a systematic review of the literature that aimed to describe nursing and other health professional students’ knowledge and attitudes towards breastfeeding, and examine educational interventions designed to increase breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes amongst health professional students.

Methods

A systematic review of peer reviewed literature was performed. The search for literature was conducted utilising six electronic databases, CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane, for studies published in English from January 2000 to March 2017. Studies focused on nursing students’ or other health professional students’ knowledge, attitudes or experiences related to breastfeeding. Intervention studies to improve knowledge and attitudes, were also included. All papers were reviewed using the relevant Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist.

Results

Fourteen studies were included in the review. This review indicates that in some settings, health professional students demonstrated mid-range scores on breastfeeding attitudes, and their knowledge of breastfeeding was limited, particularly in relation to breastfeeding assessment and management. All of the studies that tested a specialised breastfeeding education programme, appeared to increase nursing students’ knowledge overall or aspects of their knowledge related to breastfeeding. Several factors were found to influence breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes, including timing of maternal and child health curriculum component, previous personal breastfeeding experience, gender, cultural practices and government legislation.

Conclusions

Based on this review, it appears that nursing curriculum, or specialised programmes that emphasise the importance of breastfeeding initiation, can improve breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes and students’ confidence in helping and guiding breastfeeding mothers.
Literature
1.
World Health Organization, UNICEF. Global strategy for infant and young child feeding. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003.
2.
Gartner LM, Morton J, Lawrence RA, Naylor AJ, O'Hare D, Schanler RJ, Eidelman AI. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics. 2005;115(2):496–506.CrossRefPubMed
3.
Schmied V, Beake S, Sheehan A, McCourt C, Dykes F. Women’s perceptions and experiences of breastfeeding support: a metasynthesis. Birth. 2011;38(1):49–60.CrossRefPubMed
4.
McFadden A, Gavine A, Renfrew MJ, Wade A, Buchanan P, Taylor JL, Veitch E, Rennie AM, Crowther SA, Neiman S, MacGillivray S. Support for healthy breastfeeding mothers with healthy term babies. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;2:CD001141.
5.
Lewin LO, O'Connor ME. BreastfeedingBasics: web-based education that meets current knowledge competencies. J Hum Lact. 2012;28(3):407–13.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Ahmed A, Bantz D, Richardson C. Breastfeeding knowledge of university nursing students. Am J Maternal Child Nur. 2011;36(6):361–7.CrossRef
7.
Wang SF, Chen JY, Chen CH. The current status of breastfeeding education for professionals in Taiwan: a triangulation study. Tzu Chi. Nur J. 2007;6(6):96–102.
8.
Spiby H, McCormick F, Wallace L, Renfrew MJ, D’Souza L, Dyson LA. Systematic review of education and evidence-based practice interventions with health professionals and breast feeding counsellors on duration of breast feeding. Midwifery. 2009;25(1):50–61.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Watkins AL, Dodgson JE. Breastfeeding educational interventions for health professionals: a synthesis of intervention studies. J Spec Ped Nur. 2010;15(3):223–32.CrossRef
10.
Richardson WS, Wilson MC, Nishikawa J, Hayward RSA. The well-built clinical question: a key to evidence-based decisions. ACP J Club. 1995;123:A12–3.PubMed
11.
12.
13.
14.
Cricco-Lizza R. Student nurses' attitudes and beliefs about breast-feeding. J Prof Nurs. 2006;22(5):314–21.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Pajalic Z. Nursing students' views on promoting successful breastfeeding in Sweden. Global J Health Sci. 2014;6(5):63–9.CrossRef
16.
Ahmed A, El Guindy SR. Breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes among Egyptian baccalaureate students. Int Nurs Rev. 2011;58(3):372–8.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Amin TT, Abdulrahman AG, Al Muhaidib NS, Al OA. Breastfeeding attitudes and knowledge among future female physicians and teachers in Saudi Arabia. Health Sci J. 2014;8(1):102–15.
18.
Brodribb W, Fallon A, Jackson C, Hegney D. Breastfeeding and Australian GP registrars - their knowledge and attitudes. J Hum Lact. 2008;24(4):422–30.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Spear HJ. Baccalaureate nursing students' breastfeeding knowledge: a descriptive survey. Nurse Educ Today. 2006;26(4):332–7.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Kakrani VA, Rathod Waghela HK, Mammulwar MS, Bhawalkar JS. Awareness about "ten steps for successful breastfeeding" among medical and nursing students. Int J Prev Med. 2015;6:40.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
21.
Bozzette M, Posner T. Increasing student nurses' knowledge of breastfeeding in baccalaureate education. Nurse Educ Pract. 2013;13(3):228–33.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Cianelli R, Villegas N, Azaiza K, Henderson S, Hooshmand M, Peragallo N. Developing and testing an online breastfeeding training among undergraduate nursing students. Clinical Nursing. Studies. 2014;3(1):82–8.
23.
Davis A, Sherrod RA. Effects of an educational intervention on baccalaureate nursing students' knowledge and attitude in providing breastfeeding support to mothers. Int J Childbirth Educ. 2015;30(4):8–12.
24.
Dodgson JE, Tarrant M. Outcomes of a breastfeeding educational intervention for baccalaureate nursing students. Nurse Educ Today. 2007;27(8):856–67.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Mora Adl RDW, Dungy CI, Losch M, Dusdieker L. The Iowa infant feeding attitude scale: analysis of reliability and validity. J Appl Soc Psychol. 1999;29(11):2362–80.CrossRef
26.
Duckett L, Henly S, Avery M, Potter S, Hills-Bonczyk S, Hulden R, Savik KA. Theory of planned behavior-based structural model for breast-feeding. Nurs Res. 1998;47(6):325–36.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Dodgson JE, Bloomfield M, Choi M. Are health science students' beliefs about infant nutrition evidence-based? Nurse Educ Today. 2014;34(1):92–9.CrossRefPubMed
28.
29.
Australian College of Midwives. BFHI handbook for maternity facilities. Canberra: ACM; 2016.
30.
Redshaw M, Henderson J. Learning the hard way : expectations and experiences of infant feeding support. Birth. 2012;39(1):21–9.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Blackman I, Sweet L, Byrne J. Using Rasch analysis to identify midwifery students' learning about providing breastfeeding support. Women and Birth. 2015;28(3):228–35.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Chen CH, Shu HQ, Chi CS. Breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes of health professionals and students. Acta Paediatr Taiwan. 2001;42(4):207–11.PubMed
33.
Spatz DL, Pugh LC. The American Academy of Nursing expert panel on breastfeeding. The integration of the use of human milk and breastfeeding in baccalaureate nursing curricula. Nurs Outlook. 2007;55(5):257–63.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Spatz DL. The breastfeeding case study: a model for educating nursing students. J Nurs Educ. 2005;44(9):432–4.PubMed
35.
Deloian BJ, Lewin LO, O'Connor ME. Use of a web-based education program improves nurses' knowledge of breastfeeding. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2015;44(1):77–86.CrossRefPubMed
36.
Lande B, Andersen LF, Bærug A, Trygg KU, Lund-Larsen K, Veierød MB, Aa BG-E. Infant feeding practices and associated factors in the first six months of life: the Norwegian infant nutrition survey. Acta Paediatr. 2003;92:152–61.CrossRefPubMed
37.
Sjöström K, Welander S, Haines H, Andersson E, Hildingsson I. Comparison of breastfeeding in rural areas of Sweden and Australia – a cohort study. Women and Birth. 2013;26(4):229–34.CrossRefPubMed
38.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The surgeon general’s call to action to support breastfeeding. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General; 2011.
39.
El-Zanaty F, Way A. Egypt demographic and health survey 2008. Cairo: Ministry of Health, El-Zanaty and Associates, and Macro International; 2009.
40.
Freed GL, Clark SJ, Harris BG, Methods LDL. Outcomes of breastfeeding instruction for nursing students. J Hum Lact. 1996;12(2):105–10.CrossRefPubMed
41.
Bernaix LW, Beaman ML, Schmidt CA, Harris JK, Miller LM. Success of an educational intervention on maternal/newborn nurses' breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2010;39(6):658–66.CrossRefPubMed
42.
Cantrill RM, Creedy DK, Cooke M. How midwives learn about breastfeeding. Australian Midwifery. 2003;16(2):11–6.
43.
Darwent KL, Kempenaar LE. A comparison of breastfeeding women's, peer supporters' and student midwives' breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes. Nurse Educ Pract. 2014;14(3):319–25.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Jeyendra A, Rajadurai J, Chanmugam J, Trieu A, Nair S, Baskaran R, Schmied V. Australian general practitioners’ perspectives on their role in well-child health care. BMC Fam Pract. 2013;14:2.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
45.
McLaughlin M, Fraser J, Young J, Keogh S. Paediatric nurses' knowledge and attitudes related to breastfeeding and the hospitalised infant. Breastfeeding Rev. 2011;19(3):13–24.
46.
Shealy KR, Li R, Benton-Davis S, Grummer-Strawn LM. The CDC guide to breastfeeding interventions. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2005.
Metadata
Title
Breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes of health professional students: a systematic review
Authors
Shu-Fei Yang
Yenna Salamonson
Elaine Burns
Virginia Schmied
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
International Breastfeeding Journal / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1746-4358
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13006-018-0153-1

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

International Breastfeeding Journal 1/2018 Go to the issue

Research

Donor milk intake and infant growth in a South African neonatal unit: a cohort study

Research

Determinants of exclusive breastfeeding in rural South India

Research

Factors associated with a low prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding during hospital stay in urban and semi-rural areas of southern Vietnam

Commentary

Images of women breastfeeding in public: solitude and sociality in recent photographic portraiture

Research

Comparison of attitudes to breastfeeding among Spanish-born and Chinese-born postpartum women in Madrid

Research

Delayed initiation of breastfeeding in Bukavu, South Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: a cross-sectional study