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The Necessity of Breastfeeding – Promoting Breastfeeding in the Primary Care Setting; A Community Pilot Project Applying the Tri-Core Breastfeeding Model: Beyond the Basics
| Deborah Busch1, Leila Nassar2 and JoAnne Silbert-Flagg3* | |
| 1University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, USA | |
| 2Practicing Certified Lactation Consultant, Allentown PA, USA | |
| 3Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA | |
| Corresponding Author : | JoAnne Silbert-Flagg Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing Baltimore, Maryland, USA Tel: 410 614 4082 E-mail: jsilber1@jhu.edu |
| Received Arpil 21, 2015; Accepted May 04, 2015; Published May 05, 2015 | |
| Citation: Busch D, Nassar L, Silbert-Flagg J (2015) The Necessity of Breastfeeding – Promoting Breastfeeding in the Primary Care Setting; A Community Pilot Project Applying the Tri-Core Breastfeeding Model: Beyond the Basics. J Preg Child Health 2:158. doi: 10.4172/2376-127X.1000158 | |
| Copyright: © 2015 Busch D, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. | |
Abstract
The purpose of this pilot-project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a breastfeeding program designed to improve maternal and agency support and subsequently increase breastfeeding rates in a primary care practice. . The practice is located in a U.S. suburban site that employs two pediatricians and two Certified Lactation Consultants (CLC), of which one is a medical-assistant and one is a pediatric nurse practitioner. The local hospital’s annual birth rate averaged approximately 4,500-5,000 births a year and the practice saw three to five newborns weekly. The general population of the study site consisted of middle to low-income families of Caucasian, Latino, Asian, and African American decent, The study population (N of 50) included both married and single healthy mothers who had recently given birth to a healthy full term baby (37-40 weeks gestation) and who wished to breastfeed their infant within the early postpartum period. Infant feeding patterns were identified as breastfed (at the breast or bottle fed breast milk) exclusively, breastfed partially (some formula), and formula fed. The foundation for the pilot project incorporated the three core interventions of the Tri-Core model 1) improving lactation support, 2) enhancing maternal and staff lactation education, and 3) fostering maternal confidence in their ability to breastfeed (self-efficacy). Project outcomes were measured by the assessment of breastfeeding rates, durations, and reported maternal self-efficacy levels at the newborn, one month, and two month visit. Significant gains in all breastfeeding rates were reported compared to previous rates, especially in the rates of exclusive breastfeeding. Demonstrating that initiating a targeted Tri-Core strategy can positively improve breastfeeding rates, duration, and maternal self-efficacy within the early postpartum period.
