Empower Breastfeeding Education Program

Empower Breastfeeding: Effects of an Integrated Breastfeeding Education Program on Optimal Breastfeeding Practice

This study results of integrated breastfeeding education program (IBEP) will guide in designing a theory-based breastfeeding educational module on promotion of optimal breastfeeding practice in new mother and her partner. The current novel education curriculum incorporated breastfeeding simulation, mindfulness training, and professional support will provide important information in supporting use of IBEP in enhancing participants self-efficacy. This study will show on how simulation teaching and mindfulness training can be utilized in the field of perinatal teaching to achieve better health outcomes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Breastfeeding
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Simulation breastfeeding education

Detailed Description

To achieve optimal breastfeeding practice, the development of an integrated breastfeeding education program (IBEP) which incorporates simulation education, mindfulness training, professional support targeting the self-efficacy of participants is of vital importance. A randomized controlled trial of an integrated breastfeeding education program focusing on participants will be designed with two study objectives: 1) to evaluate the effects of IBEP on the primary outcome measures of breastfeeding practice as following: a) early initiation of breastfeeding, b) exclusive breastfeeding rate, c) predominate breastfeeding rate; 2) to examine the effects of IBEP on the secondary outcome measures, psychosocial correlates of exclusive breastfeeding including a) breastfeeding self-efficacy, b)anxiety, c) depression, d) mindful awareness e) infant feeding attitude. These objectives will be examined among participants in six time periods: a) during pregnancy 24 to 32 weeks education program b) 34 to 40 weeks of pregnancy (after class or third trimester), c)1 week, d) 4weeks, d) 3 months, e) 6 months postpartum, while the indicators of breastfeeding practice will be examined at the four periods following delivery.

It is hypothesized that 1) the intervention will result in a better effect on all primary outcome measures, as compared to those in the control group. Specifically, participants in IBEP group will show 10 % or greater difference in exclusive breastfeeding rates at six months than participants in the control group, 2) participants in the IBEP group will demonstrate larger effects on breastfeeding self-efficacy and mindfulness, and lower anxiety and depression than those in the control group.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 800
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • Taipei, Taiwan
    • Taipei Medical University, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Aged 20 years and above. During the first or second trimester of pregnancy. Willing to breastfeed after delivery Singleton pregnancy. Participants are able to attend the breastfeeding class.

Exclusion Criteria:

Chronic medical conditions. Abnormal fetal screening. Preterm delivery before 37 weeks gestational weeks.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group; Both standard usual care and the integrated breastfeeding education program (IBEP) will be provided to the participants in the intervention group. The integrated interventions are consisted of 1) four sessions of simulation breastfeeding education to build up the participants' performance accomplishment and vicarious learning including breastfeeding knowledge, skill, and self-efficacy; 2) two sessions of breastfeeding mindfulness training to equip women and their partners with stress reduction skills for their emotional arousal during breastfeeding; 3) a series of postpartum professional support to offer verbal persuasion in enhancing their breastfeeding skills and levels of self-efficacy. The details of each education components are presented at the following section.	Behavioral: Simulation breastfeeding education; The integrated interventions are consisted of 1) four sessions of simulation breastfeeding education to build up the participants' performance accomplishment and vicarious learning including breastfeeding knowledge, skill, and self-efficacy; 2) two sessions of breastfeeding mindfulness training to equip women and their partners with stress reduction skills for their emotional arousal during breastfeeding; 3) a series of postpartum professional support to offer verbal persuasion in enhancing their breastfeeding skills and levels of self-efficacy.; Other Names: Breastfeeding mindfulness training; Postpartum professional and partner support
No Intervention: Control Group; The mother and her partner in the control group will receive the standard usual care provided at the study site. The study site hospital where follows the 10 steps of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative will provide breastfeeding care during prenatal check-up and postpartum care. The standard care protocols encompass elements such as prenatal breastfeeding consultation using breastfeeding pamphlets, and postpartum care like skin to skin contact, rooming- in, and breastfeeding consultation using pamphlets. The pregnant women need to register for childbirth class which contains only one breastfeeding class by themselves if needed. After delivery, the mothers are taught on breastfeeding knowledge and skills by the nurses at the postpartum ward or nursey.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Breastfeeding self-efficacy	The Taiwanese version of the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale -Short form (BSES-SF) will be used to measure new mothers and father's breastfeeding self-efficacy. The mother breastfeeding self-efficacy was referred as a mother's confidence in her ability to breastfeed her infant, while the paternal breastfeeding self-efficacy was measured the father's confidence in his ability to support mothers' breastfeeding. The fathers version has been used previously. The BSES was originally developed by Dennis and Faux (1999) and has been translated into Chinese. It is a 14-item self-reported questionnaire with a 5-point scale that ranges from 1 to 5, with a total score ranging 5~70. A higher score represents a higher level of self-efficacy.The primary outcomes for this trial are commonly used breastfeeding indicators	Change from Baseline Breastfeeding self-efficacy at 6 months.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exclusive breastfeeding rates	The primary outcomes for this trial are commonly used breastfeeding indicators	Change from Baseline Exclusive breastfeeding rates at 6 months.
Anxiety symptoms	Anxiety symptoms of mother and her partner will be assessed using the Taiwanese version of the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). The 20 item questionnaire contains a 4-point likert scale of 1 (not at all) to 4 (very much so), with an overall score ranging 20-80. A higher score indicates higher anxiety.	Change from Baseline Anxiety symptoms at 6 months.
Depressive symptoms	The Taiwanese version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) will be used to assess depressive symptoms among new mother and father. EPDS has been used and tested in father participants with good validity. It is a 10-item self-reported questionnaire with a 4-point scale that ranges from 0 ("no") to 3 ("most of the time"), with a total score ranging 0~30. A higher score represents a higher level of depression. The suggested cutoff of 12/13 was used to detect probable cases of clinical depression, with a respective sensitivity and specificity of 83% and 89%.	Change from Baseline Depressive symptoms at 6 months.
Mindful awareness	The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire at baseline, 1, 3 and 6 months The Taiwanese version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) will be adopted to assess new mothers' and partners mindfulness. The FFMQ has been translated into Chinese. It is a 39-item self-reported questionnaire with a 5-point scale that ranges from 1 (almost not) to 5 (almost always). A higher score represents a higher level of mindfulness.	Change from Baseline Mindful awareness at 6 months.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Taipei Medical University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Shu-Yu Kuo, Doctoral, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan, R.O.C.

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Tseng JF, Chen SR, Au HK, Chipojola R, Lee GT, Lee PH, Shyu ML, Kuo SY. Effectiveness of an integrated breastfeeding education program to improve self-efficacy and exclusive breastfeeding rate: A single-blind, randomised controlled study. Int J Nurs Stud. 2020 Nov;111:103770. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2020.103770. Epub 2020 Sep 3.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 18, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): May 18, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 10, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 16, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): January 17, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 23, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 20, 2019
• Last Verified: April 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Breastfeeding, self-efficacy, education, intervention
• Other Study ID Numbers: N201701060

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No