Empowering mums to be: boosting breastfeeding confidence

A new Bump2Baby and Me paper led by Liz McGovern was recently published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. The research provides a fresh look at how we approach breastfeeding support during pregnancy.

Liz conducted a comprehensive scoping review, sifting through 184 studies to uncover the best ways to boost breastfeeding self-efficacy (often simplified as confidence) during pregnancy. The findings? They’re important to consider!

Timing is everything

Contrary to current practices, the review suggests that we shouldn’t wait until the third trimester to start breastfeeding education. Early pregnancy offers a golden opportunity to build confidence and address concerns.

Theory matters

Interventions based on solid theoretical frameworks, particularly Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory, showed more promising results. It’s not just about what we teach, but how we approach it.

Only half of the studies reviewed used theory to guide their interventions. There’s plenty of room for improvement!

It takes a village

The review highlighted a gap in current interventions: only 26% of studies included components involving the participant’s social support circle. This suggests an opportunity for future research to explore the impact of including partners and family members in breastfeeding education and support.

Key takeaways

The research highlighted:

• Early pregnancy is a crucial time for building breastfeeding self-efficacy
• Theory-based interventions show more promising results
• Involving all facets of breastfeeding self-efficacy in interventions is key.

What’s next?

Liz’s work opens up exciting avenues for future research. The team at UCD are looking at developing more effective, theory-based interventions that start earlier in pregnancy and involve the whole support network.

In addition, self-efficacy within the Bump2Baby and Me trial participants is currently being analysed in relation to, for example, breastfeeding duration and depression so there is more to come – watch this space!

Paper

Liz M. McGovern, Laura O’Toole, Rachel A. Laws, Timothy C. Skinner, Fionnuala M. McAuliffe & Sharleen L. O’Reilly. An exploration of prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy: a scoping review. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 21, 95 (2024).