Focused group discussion with health care staff improves breastfeeding rates in hospitalized infants
Abstract: Improving
breastfeeding in sick infants is essential. During the neonatal care, health
care staff play an important role in promoting breastfeeding. Therefore, it is
important to study in depth how healthcare staff can improve breastfeeding
practice in sick neonates.
Objective To compare breastfeeding rates in sick infants before and after
a focused group discussion (FGD) of health care staff on how to improve
breastfeeding.
Methods This study was an operational study using FGD and in-depth
interviews as an intervention. A fish bone diagram was used to assess problems
that may prevent mothers from breastfeeding their sick infants. Breastfeeding
achievement was compared before and after the FGD.
Results Of 257 sick infants, 177 subjects were in the before FGD group
and 80 subjects were in the after FGD group. Significantly more after FGD
subjects were breastfed during hospitalization than before FGD subjects [97.5%
vs. 82.9%, respectively; (x2 =9.43; P=0.002)]. Breastfeeding initiation within
0-4 hours of birth was also significantly higher in the after FGD group [10
(12.5%) vs. 6 (3.5%), respectively; (x2 = 52.5; P<0.001)]. The solutions for
breastfeeding problems were: 1) support of hospital management, 2) support of
healthcare workers for breastfeeding mothers, 3) support of husbands and
families for breastfeeding mothers, 4) financial support, 5) other factors such
as level of care and consistent FGD events, and 6) a prospective cohort study.
Conclusion The FGD with health care staff significantly increases
breastfeeding achievement during infant hospitalization, and accelerated
breastfeeding initiation. A fish bone diagram is used to effectively assess the
problems with breastfeeding programs for sick babies.
Keywords: breastfeeding; sick
babies; qualitative study; FGD
Author: Agnes Yunie Purwita
Sari, Rosalina Dewi Roeslani, Rinawati Rohsiswatmo
Journal Code: jpkedokterangg170170
