Antenatal training to improve breast feeding: a randomised trial.

OBJECTIVE

to assess the effect of an antenatal training programme on knowledge, self-efficacy and problems related to breast feeding and on breast-feeding duration.

DESIGN

a randomised controlled trial.

SETTING

the Aarhus Midwifery Clinic, a large clinic connected to a Danish university hospital in an urban area of Denmark.

PARTICIPANTS

a total of 1193 nulliparous women were recruited before week 21+6 days of gestation, 603 were randomised to the intervention group, and 590 to the reference group.

INTERVENTION

we compared a structured antenatal training programme attended in mid-pregnancy with usual practice.

MEASUREMENTS

data were collected through self-reported questionnaires sent to the women's e-mail addresses and analysed according to the intention to treat principle. The primary outcomes were duration of full and any breast feeding collected 6 weeks post partum (any) and 1 year post partum (full and any).

FINDINGS

no differences were found between groups according to duration of breast feeding, self-efficacy score, or breast-feeding problems, but after participation in the course in week 36 of gestation women in the intervention group reported a higher level of confidence (p=0.05), and 6 weeks after birth they reported to have obtained sufficient knowledge about breast feeding (p=0.02). Supplemental analysis in the intervention group revealed that women with sufficient knowledge breast fed significantly longer than women without sufficient knowledge (HR=0.74 CI: 0.58-0.97). This association was not found in the reference group (HR=1.12 CI: 0.89-1.41).

KEY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

antenatal training can increase confidence of breast feeding in pregnancy and provide women with sufficient knowledge about breast feeding after birth. Antenatal training may therefore be an important low-technology health promotion tool that can be provided at low costs in most settings. The antenatal training programme needs to be followed by postnatal breast-feeding support as it is not sufficient in itself to increase the duration of breast feeding or reduce breast-feeding problems.