Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK.
North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, Middlesbrough, UK.
Int Breastfeed J. 2024 Aug 15;19(1):57. doi: 10.1186/s13006-024-00663-8.
This paper outlines a pilot of a new memory aide for breastfeeding conducted in the Northeast of England and North Cumbria between April and August 2023. The United Kingdom has some of the lowest rates of breastfeeding, particularly in the Northeast of England, and as such more needs to be done to support mothers to breastfeed for as long as they would like to. Good support from health professionals can be effective in influencing decisions to breastfeed as well as helping to ensure initiation and continuation of breastfeeding but there is evidence to suggest that professionals and students do not always feel adequately trained and it is here, where memory aides may have value.
Key breastfeeding practitioners and educators were brought together to select one of two memory aides for principles of attachment for effective breastfeeding. The selected memory aide, LATCHS, was piloted with 57 participants with a key role in promotion and support of breastfeeding in the Northeast of England and North Cumbria.
Participants conveyed mixed views about the proposed memory aide with more experienced staff reporting more favourable opinions than student midwives and early years practitioners. Experienced staff felt the new memory aide would complement an early memory aide, CHINS, which focused on principles of positioning.
Findings of the pilot indicate there is a role for a mnemonic to help practitioners understand, recall, and retain theory around attachment for effective breastfeeding and that memory aides can play an important role in complementing existing approaches to education and practice. The participants felt the proposed memory aide had some limitations and suggested important ways for it to be improved, particularly in adding an E to reflect the expecting wording. This produced the final memory aide: LATCHES.
Using data from the pilot, the memory aide was refined, and the final version LATCHES agreed for wider dissemination. Future research is needed to understand the value of LATCHES on the wider breastfeeding workforce and whether any future improvements can be made to enhance its utility.
本文概述了 2023 年 4 月至 8 月在英格兰东北部和坎布里亚北部进行的一项新母乳喂养辅助工具的试点研究。英国的母乳喂养率较低，尤其是在英格兰东北部，因此需要做更多的工作来支持母亲尽可能长时间地母乳喂养。卫生专业人员的良好支持可以有效地影响母乳喂养的决策，并有助于确保母乳喂养的开始和持续，但有证据表明，专业人员和学生并不总是感到受过充分的培训，而记忆辅助工具可能在这里具有价值。
将关键的母乳喂养从业者和教育者聚集在一起，为有效的母乳喂养选择两种依恋原则的记忆辅助工具之一。选定的记忆辅助工具 LATCHS 在英格兰东北部和坎布里亚北部推广和支持母乳喂养方面发挥关键作用的 57 名参与者中进行了试点。
参与者对拟议的记忆辅助工具表达了不同的看法，经验丰富的员工比助产学学生和早期教育工作者报告了更有利的意见。经验丰富的员工认为新的记忆辅助工具将补充专注于定位原则的早期记忆辅助工具 CHINS。
试点研究的结果表明，有一种助记符可以帮助从业者理解、回忆和保留关于有效母乳喂养的依恋理论，并且记忆辅助工具可以在补充现有的教育和实践方法方面发挥重要作用。参与者认为拟议的记忆辅助工具有一些局限性，并提出了一些重要的改进方法，特别是在添加 E 以反映期望的措辞。这就产生了最终的记忆辅助工具：LATCHES。
利用试点研究的数据，对记忆辅助工具进行了改进，最终版本的 LATCHES 被同意广泛传播。需要进一步的研究来了解 LATCHES 在更广泛的母乳喂养劳动力中的价值，以及是否可以进行任何进一步的改进来提高其效用。
