Childcare workers’ experiences of supporting exclusive breastfeeding in Kuala Muda District, Malaysia: a qualitative study

Abstract

BackgroundThe role of childcare workers at registered nurseries in supporting exclusive breastfeeding practice is important, as many newborn babies are placed in nurseries during working hours. To increase exclusive breastfeeding rates among working mothers, understanding childcare workers’ experiences and needs relating to supporting these mothers is crucial. This study aimed to explore childcare workers’ experiences of supporting breastfeeding at registered nurseries.MethodsWe used a qualitative design to conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews with ten childcare workers at seven registered nursery centres in Kuala Muda District, Malaysia. Attitudes towards exclusive breastfeeding practice, experiences of breastfeeding training and information, and experiences supporting exclusive breastfeeding at the nursery were explored. Participants were asked to suggest improvements for exclusive breastfeeding practice at their nursery. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated before analysis.ResultsAll participants demonstrated a positive attitude in supporting and promoting exclusive breastfeeding practice, mainly centred on the advantages of breastfeeding. Various supports have been found such as labelling bottled breastmilk, allowing the mother to come to the nursery during breaks, and providing reading materials. However, several issues emerged that include parents’ choice on infant feeding practice, insufficient content on breastfeeding topics during training, and adherence to the (not recommended) practice of bottle feeding expressed breastmilk. Recommendations to enhance breastfeeding were also suggested by participants.ConclusionChildcare workers may serve as another potential resource for sustaining exclusive breastfeeding at registered nurseries.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13006-016-0095-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Factors Related to Breastfeeding Support in Lebanese Daycare Centers: A Qualitative Study among Daycare Directors and Employees

“…Mothers' knowledge was also previously mentioned as a facilitator of breastfeeding continuation [14]. Our participants indicated that DCCs could play a positive role in promoting breastfeeding awareness and knowledge among mothers, in line with other studies [36,42].…”

“…The age at which DCCs accept children seemed to affect the level of staff support for breastfeeding continuation: the DCCs that accepted younger infants had the highest level of support, in line with findings from Mohd Suan et al (2017). This indicates a need to focus on breastfeeding continuation support, beyond the initial three months, maximizing the chance of prolonging the breastfeeding period [36]. In line with this, Batan et al (2013) showed a marked increase in the number of mothers breastfeeding up to 6 months as a result of higher breastfeeding support provision by the DCCs' staff beyond the first few months [43].…”

“…In terms of training, most DCCs followed a list of training topics set by the government that did not include breastfeeding as a main topic, but focused on child safety and education. This discouraged DCC staff's interest in the subject of breastfeeding, as seen in previous studies [35,36,44], indicating the need for improving initial and postgraduate DCCs' directors' and employees' knowledge of breastfeeding as well as providing targeted government-organized training courses to enhance it and subsequently support it in DCCs. Furthermore, extending this training to the parents could also improve this support, as seen in other studies [36,37].…”

“…The interview guide was not validated. The selected interview questions were based on the different methods used and findings from previous research concerning barriers and supports regarding breastfeeding in daycare centers [27,28,[34][35][36][37]. The questions explored potential individual-, group-, or society-level factors as well as policies and environmental determinants of the daycare center's director and employee support of breastfeeding found in the designed conceptual framework (Figure S1), which was based on the EnRG framework [38], as well as on the conceptual framework of factors affecting breastfeeding based on a socioecological model [39].…”

Knowledge, Practice and Problems of Exclusive Breastfeeding among Mothers Attending the Outpatient Clinic of a Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Designated Hospital in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

“…There is however a need to educate breastfeeding mothers on adequacy of breast milk to sustain growth and development of the newborn infant in the first 6 months of life [32] and alternate ways of continuing EBF while at work, like the use of expressed breast milk while the mother is at work [33,34]. Also important is the need for the provision of comfortable creches at the work place, so that mothers can comfortably breastfeed their babies while at work [35,36].…”