Teaching strategies and learning environments for breastfeeding promotion: a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction:The promotion of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) up to the age of 6 months has become a global public health issue due to its benefits for newborns and mothers. As a result, WHO and UNICEF expect that by 2030, 75% of children will be fed breast milk. However, the recommendations for its promotion are still generalized.Objectives:To describe teaching strategies and environments conducive to women’s learning of EBF implemented by care professionals.Methods:This review was based on articles published between June 2012 and January 2020. Three databases (CINAHL, PubMed, and Embase) were queried.Results:A total of 7,710 articles were pre-selected, of which 78 met the criteria for final selection. Educational interventions were mostly diversified, empirical, and without pedagogical engineering. However, the presence of pedagogical alignment regarding teaching strategies seems to have a favorable effect on the choice of breastfeeding and its duration at medium and long term.Conclusion:These results, coupled with the exploitation of experience-based knowledge in the field of breastfeeding, should lead to an initial pedagogical model. Evaluated according to critical realism, this should make it possible to identify the key functions that will enrich the tested pedagogical model and ensure its transferability.