Breastfeeding Support for Minority Women Postdischarge: A Pilot Program

Abstract

Objective:Human milk is the preferred source of nutrition for infants in their first 6 months of life. A majority of American women will initiate breastfeeding, but many will not continue due to the many challenges that arise, creating a significant gap between initiation and the long-term exclusivity rate. This quality improvement project aimed to increase postpartum lactation support encounters, fostering the mother’s knowledge and self-efficacy, which are known predictors for breastfeeding success.Methods:Program participants received proactive lactation support via telephone every 24–72 hours throughout the first 2 weeks postpartum. Breastfeeding knowledge, self-efficacy, and exclusivity pre- and postprogram were assessed.Results:All outreach attempts to participants were made as planned. Eight out of 20 enrolled participants completed the program and maintained breastfeeding exclusivity at 2 weeks. Breastfeeding knowledge scores were significantly higher at the completion of program compared with preprogram scores. Pre- and postprogram breastfeeding self-efficacy scores were not statistically significantly different; however, the mean was high for all participants, exceeding 65 both pre- and post-program.Conclusions:Transferrable knowledge from this quality improvement project will support sustainable improvement of lactation support across other institutions.