Identifying effective breastfeeding support for healthy women and those with long-term conditions

Anna Gavine; Shona Shinwell; Laura Hay; Phyll Buchanan; Albert Farre; Angie Wade; Fiona Lynn; Joyce L. Marshall; Sara Cumming; Shadrach Dare; Flávia Ximenes Vasconcelos; Alison McFadden

doi:10.1111/mcn.13579

Abstract

Background: Many women stop breastfeeding before they intended and report a lack of support from healthcare providers (Fox, McMullen, & Newburn, 2015). Moreover, women with multiple long-term conditions may have additional difficulties breastfeeding (Scime, Patten, Tough & Chaput, 2022). The aim of this work is to identify effective interventions to support all women to breastfeed.

Methods: This presentation is comprised of two linked work packages of the Action4breastfeeding study. The first is an update of the Cochrane Review on Breastfeeding Support for healthy women with healthy term babies (Gavine et al., 2022). As this Cochrane review excludes women with long-term conditions, an additional Systematic Review to identify effective interventions for women with long-term conditions is currently underway.

Results: The updated Cochrane review identified 116 randomised controlled trials which involved 98,816 women and their babies. Interventions were grouped into ‘breastfeeding only’ interventions and ‘breastfeeding plus’ interventions which contain other aspects of maternal and newborn care. We found moderate certainty evidence that ‘breastfeeding only’ support helped reduce the number of women stopping any at exclusive breastfeeding at 4-6 weeks, 3-4 months and 6 months. For ‘breastfeeding plus’ the evidence is less certain but there was some evidence of a beneficial effect on exclusive breastfeeding. Meta-regression identified that a schedule of 4-8 contacts may help with exclusive breastfeeding. However, there were no differences in terms of who provides the support (i.e. peer or professional) or the mode of deliver (e.g. face-to-face, telephone, digital).

The Systematic Review on breastfeeding support for women with long-term conditions has identified 20 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Analysis is currently underway, and results will be presented.

Conclusion: For healthy women, organized support can help increase the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding. Given the increase in prevalence of maternal long-term conditions (NHS England, 2016), we need to better understand if support can also be effective for women with long-term conditions. Further linked work is also on-going to better understand how the effective interventions identified in these work packages can be implemented in an NHS setting.

Original language	English
Article number	e13579
Pages (from-to)	20-21
Number of pages	54
Journal	Maternal and Child Nutrition
Volume	20
Issue number	S1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13579
Publication status	Published - 3 Jan 2024
Event	Nutrition and Nurture in Infancy and Childhood: Bio-Cultural Perspectives - The Grange Hotel, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, United Kingdom Duration: 19 Apr 2023 → 21 Apr 2023 Conference number: 11th https://www.uclan.ac.uk/research/institutes/interrelate/thrive/mainn (MAINN web page) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/pb-assets/assets/17408709/MAINN%20conference%202023%20CFP-1666597772.pdf (MAINN Conference information)

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10.1111/mcn.13579Licence: CC BY

Final Published VersionFinal published version, 3.91 MBLicence: CC BY

1 Finished

Co-Production of an NHS-Tailored Implementation and Evaluation Strategy Framework to Support Women in the UK to Breastfeed with a Focus on Reducing Health Inequities: Evidence Synthesis with Stakeholder Engagement (joint with Queen's University Belfast, Huddersfield University, Open University, University College London and Public Health Wales)
Farre, A. (Investigator), Gavine, A. (Investigator) & McFadden, A. (Investigator)
1/02/21 → 1/02/23
Project: Research

1 Abstract

Identifying effective breastfeeding support for healthy women and those with long-term conditions
Gavine, A., Shinwell , S., Hay, L., Buchanan, P., Farre, A., Wade, A., Lynn, F., Marshall, J. L., Cumming, S., Dare, S., Ximenes Vasconcelos, F. & McFadden, A., 20 Apr 2023.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract › peer-review

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Cite this

@article{b6b2915aa4d64535a0701f02e1432463,

title = "Identifying effective breastfeeding support for healthy women and those with long-term conditions",

abstract = "Background: Many women stop breastfeeding before they intended and report a lack of support from healthcare providers (Fox, McMullen, & Newburn, 2015). Moreover, women with multiple long-term conditions may have additional difficulties breastfeeding (Scime, Patten, Tough & Chaput, 2022). The aim of this work is to identify effective interventions to support all women to breastfeed.Methods: This presentation is comprised of two linked work packages of the Action4breastfeeding study. The first is an update of the Cochrane Review on Breastfeeding Support for healthy women with healthy term babies (Gavine et al., 2022). As this Cochrane review excludes women with long-term conditions, an additional Systematic Review to identify effective interventions for women with long-term conditions is currently underway.Results: The updated Cochrane review identified 116 randomised controlled trials which involved 98,816 women and their babies. Interventions were grouped into {\textquoteleft}breastfeeding only{\textquoteright} interventions and {\textquoteleft}breastfeeding plus{\textquoteright} interventions which contain other aspects of maternal and newborn care. We found moderate certainty evidence that {\textquoteleft}breastfeeding only{\textquoteright} support helped reduce the number of women stopping any at exclusive breastfeeding at 4-6 weeks, 3-4 months and 6 months. For {\textquoteleft}breastfeeding plus{\textquoteright} the evidence is less certain but there was some evidence of a beneficial effect on exclusive breastfeeding. Meta-regression identified that a schedule of 4-8 contacts may help with exclusive breastfeeding. However, there were no differences in terms of who provides the support (i.e. peer or professional) or the mode of deliver (e.g. face-to-face, telephone, digital).The Systematic Review on breastfeeding support for women with long-term conditions has identified 20 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Analysis is currently underway, and results will be presented.Conclusion: For healthy women, organized support can help increase the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding. Given the increase in prevalence of maternal long-term conditions (NHS England, 2016), we need to better understand if support can also be effective for women with long-term conditions. Further linked work is also on-going to better understand how the effective interventions identified in these work packages can be implemented in an NHS setting.",

author = "Anna Gavine and Shona Shinwell and Laura Hay and Phyll Buchanan and Albert Farre and Angie Wade and Fiona Lynn and Marshall, {Joyce L.} and Sara Cumming and Shadrach Dare and {Ximenes Vasconcelos}, Fl{\'a}via and Alison McFadden",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2024 The Authors; Nutrition and Nurture in Infancy and Childhood : Bio-Cultural Perspectives ; Conference date: 19-04-2023 Through 21-04-2023",

year = "2024",

month = jan,

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doi = "10.1111/mcn.13579",

language = "English",

volume = "20",

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journal = "Maternal and Child Nutrition",

issn = "1740-8695",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "S1",

url = "https://www.uclan.ac.uk/research/institutes/interrelate/thrive/mainn, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/pb-assets/assets/17408709/MAINN%20conference%202023%20CFP-1666597772.pdf",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Identifying effective breastfeeding support for healthy women and those with long-term conditions

AU - Gavine, Anna

AU - Shinwell, Shona

AU - Hay, Laura

AU - Buchanan, Phyll

AU - Farre, Albert

AU - Wade, Angie

AU - Lynn, Fiona

AU - Marshall, Joyce L.

AU - Cumming, Sara

AU - Dare, Shadrach

AU - Ximenes Vasconcelos, Flávia

AU - McFadden, Alison

N1 - Conference code: 11th

PY - 2024/1/3

Y1 - 2024/1/3

N2 - Background: Many women stop breastfeeding before they intended and report a lack of support from healthcare providers (Fox, McMullen, & Newburn, 2015). Moreover, women with multiple long-term conditions may have additional difficulties breastfeeding (Scime, Patten, Tough & Chaput, 2022). The aim of this work is to identify effective interventions to support all women to breastfeed.Methods: This presentation is comprised of two linked work packages of the Action4breastfeeding study. The first is an update of the Cochrane Review on Breastfeeding Support for healthy women with healthy term babies (Gavine et al., 2022). As this Cochrane review excludes women with long-term conditions, an additional Systematic Review to identify effective interventions for women with long-term conditions is currently underway.Results: The updated Cochrane review identified 116 randomised controlled trials which involved 98,816 women and their babies. Interventions were grouped into ‘breastfeeding only’ interventions and ‘breastfeeding plus’ interventions which contain other aspects of maternal and newborn care. We found moderate certainty evidence that ‘breastfeeding only’ support helped reduce the number of women stopping any at exclusive breastfeeding at 4-6 weeks, 3-4 months and 6 months. For ‘breastfeeding plus’ the evidence is less certain but there was some evidence of a beneficial effect on exclusive breastfeeding. Meta-regression identified that a schedule of 4-8 contacts may help with exclusive breastfeeding. However, there were no differences in terms of who provides the support (i.e. peer or professional) or the mode of deliver (e.g. face-to-face, telephone, digital).The Systematic Review on breastfeeding support for women with long-term conditions has identified 20 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Analysis is currently underway, and results will be presented.Conclusion: For healthy women, organized support can help increase the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding. Given the increase in prevalence of maternal long-term conditions (NHS England, 2016), we need to better understand if support can also be effective for women with long-term conditions. Further linked work is also on-going to better understand how the effective interventions identified in these work packages can be implemented in an NHS setting.

AB - Background: Many women stop breastfeeding before they intended and report a lack of support from healthcare providers (Fox, McMullen, & Newburn, 2015). Moreover, women with multiple long-term conditions may have additional difficulties breastfeeding (Scime, Patten, Tough & Chaput, 2022). The aim of this work is to identify effective interventions to support all women to breastfeed.Methods: This presentation is comprised of two linked work packages of the Action4breastfeeding study. The first is an update of the Cochrane Review on Breastfeeding Support for healthy women with healthy term babies (Gavine et al., 2022). As this Cochrane review excludes women with long-term conditions, an additional Systematic Review to identify effective interventions for women with long-term conditions is currently underway.Results: The updated Cochrane review identified 116 randomised controlled trials which involved 98,816 women and their babies. Interventions were grouped into ‘breastfeeding only’ interventions and ‘breastfeeding plus’ interventions which contain other aspects of maternal and newborn care. We found moderate certainty evidence that ‘breastfeeding only’ support helped reduce the number of women stopping any at exclusive breastfeeding at 4-6 weeks, 3-4 months and 6 months. For ‘breastfeeding plus’ the evidence is less certain but there was some evidence of a beneficial effect on exclusive breastfeeding. Meta-regression identified that a schedule of 4-8 contacts may help with exclusive breastfeeding. However, there were no differences in terms of who provides the support (i.e. peer or professional) or the mode of deliver (e.g. face-to-face, telephone, digital).The Systematic Review on breastfeeding support for women with long-term conditions has identified 20 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Analysis is currently underway, and results will be presented.Conclusion: For healthy women, organized support can help increase the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding. Given the increase in prevalence of maternal long-term conditions (NHS England, 2016), we need to better understand if support can also be effective for women with long-term conditions. Further linked work is also on-going to better understand how the effective interventions identified in these work packages can be implemented in an NHS setting.

U2 - 10.1111/mcn.13579

DO - 10.1111/mcn.13579

M3 - Meeting abstract

SN - 1740-8695

VL - 20

SP - 20

EP - 21

JO - Maternal and Child Nutrition

JF - Maternal and Child Nutrition

IS - S1

M1 - e13579

T2 - Nutrition and Nurture in Infancy and Childhood

Y2 - 19 April 2023 through 21 April 2023

ER -

Identifying effective breastfeeding support for healthy women and those with long-term conditions

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Identifying effective breastfeeding support for healthy women and those with long-term conditions

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