The effect of a breastfeeding educational workshop on clinicians' knowledge, attitudes and practices

Abstract

Background Counselling, education and support from health professionals is key to increasing breastfeeding practices. Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of a breastfeeding educational workshop on Jordanian nurses' and midwives' knowledge, attitudes and practices towards breastfeeding. Methods A convenience sample of 82 nurses and midwives were recruited and randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. A pre-test was conducted for both groups and a post-test was conducted 2 weeks after the intervention for both groups. Findings The results showed significantly higher mean and standard deviation in the intervention group (M=11.73; SD=2.6), compared to the control group (M=8.38; SD=2.59) after conducting the workshop (P<0.001), indicating that the workshop was beneficial in improving knowledge and practice towards the importance of breastfeeding. Conclusion The 2-hour educational workshop increased health professionals' knowledge and this may lead to improvements in practice and better breastfeeding outcomes.