PMID- 33256774
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20211025
LR  - 20211025
IS  - 1746-4358 (Electronic)
IS  - 1746-4358 (Linking)
VI  - 15
IP  - 1
DP  - 2020 Nov 30
TI  - Breastfeeding support at an Australian Breastfeeding Association drop-in service: 
      a descriptive survey.
PG  - 101
LID - 10.1186/s13006-020-00345-1 [doi]
LID - 101
AB  - BACKGROUND: In Australia, during the early establishment phase of breastfeeding, 
      women can access telephone peer support counselling provided by the Australian 
      Breastfeeding Association (ABA) however options for face-to-face peer support are 
      limited. The known factors which improve ongoing and exclusive breastfeeding 
      include face-to-face support, peer and/or professional support, and trained 
      personnel. This study aimed to examine women's experiences of accessing one 
      breastfeeding drop-in peer support service provided by trained peer support 
      volunteer counsellors from the ABA. METHODS: Women who accessed the service were 
      invited, in 2014, to participate in an anonymous online survey which collected 
      both quantitative and qualitative data. Participants were asked about their 
      experiences of breastfeeding support, as well as their experiences of the drop-in 
      service. In total, 53 women completed the online survey, and subsequent analysis 
      generated descriptive statistics and qualitative themes. RESULTS: Responses to 
      the survey revealed that women attended the drop-in service with infants ranging 
      in age from less than 1 week through to 12 months of age. Most women reported 
      attending with infants aged 0-8 weeks of age (72%). The predominant presenting 
      problems identified were sore/damaged nipples, difficulties with infant latching 
      to the breast, or concerns about using nipple shields. Analysis of the open text 
      qualitative responses revealed one overarching theme 'Support to continue 
      breastfeeding' and four subthemes: 'feeling listened to and not judged'; 
      'emotional support and confidence building'; 'the importance of face-to-face, 
      practical support'; and 'the need for ongoing, free access'. DISCUSSION: In this 
      study many women were seeking support for ongoing breastfeeding difficulties. 
      Health professionals who had limited breastfeeding knowledge and skills were 
      identified as most unhelpful in providing support with ongoing breastfeeding 
      difficulties. Women valued having access to trained peer counsellors, who had the 
      capacity to provide non-judgemental, face-to-face support; who could sit through 
      a feed; in a space that was 'safe'; and who could enhance a woman's confidence 
      with breastfeeding over the course of her full breastfeeding journey. 
      CONCLUSIONS: Reactive peer support, provided in response to need, at an 
      Australian Breastfeeding Association drop-in service, was described by 
      participants as pivotal to enabling their ongoing breastfeeding.
FAU - Burns, Elaine S
AU  - Burns ES
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-1388-6213
AD  - School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South 
      Wales, Australia. e.burns@westernsydney.edu.au.
FAU - Duursma, Louise
AU  - Duursma L
AD  - School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South 
      Wales, Australia.
FAU - Triandafilidis, Zoi
AU  - Triandafilidis Z
AD  - School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Sydney, New South 
      Wales, Australia.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20201130
PL  - England
TA  - Int Breastfeed J
JT  - International breastfeeding journal
JID - 101251562
SB  - IM
MH  - Australia
MH  - *Breast Feeding
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infant
MH  - Peer Group
MH  - Postnatal Care
MH  - Pregnancy
MH  - *Social Support
PMC - PMC7708100
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - Breastfeeding
OT  - Drop-in
OT  - Lactation
OT  - Peer counsellor
OT  - Peer support
OT  - Reactive support
OT  - Thematic analysis
COIS- Potential conflicts of Interest declared: LD has been an Australian Breastfeeding 
      Association peer support counsellor and at times provided support to women at the 
      drop-in service reported here. In order to manage this ZT conducted data cleaning 
      of the survey data prior to analysis of the data, to remove any potentially 
      identifying information. In addition, EB and ZT coded and analysed the open text 
      responses.
EDAT- 2020/12/02 06:00
MHDA- 2021/10/26 06:00
PMCR- 2020/11/30
CRDT- 2020/12/01 05:36
PHST- 2020/03/04 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2020/11/23 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2020/12/01 05:36 [entrez]
PHST- 2020/12/02 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/10/26 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2020/11/30 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s13006-020-00345-1 [pii]
AID - 345 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s13006-020-00345-1 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Int Breastfeed J. 2020 Nov 30;15(1):101. doi: 10.1186/s13006-020-00345-1.