Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Effectiveness of breastfeeding education compared to standard hospital information on exclusive breastfeeding among mothers: A systematic review

Authors

. Athirarani Muraleedharan Rohini
. Sujitha Elavally 1
. Geetha Saradakutty 2

1 Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Government College of Nursing, Thrissur, Kerala University of Health Sciences, India

2 Department of Paediatrics, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala University of Health Sciences, India

Abstract
Breastfeeding is the single intervention with the largest impact on the health of a new‑born baby. 
Evidence has to be generated to convince the mother as well as policy‑makers for the promotion 
of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for 6 months. This study aimed to assess the evidence for the 
effectiveness of breastfeeding education compared with standard hospital information among mothers 
on the rate of EBF. The study design is systematic review. Trials which are randomized or cluster 
randomized which studied the effect of educational interventions for mothers on EBF were searched 
for. Two databases were searched, namely PubMed and Cochrane. Manual search of reference 
lists of all included studies in Google scholar and Clinical Trial Registry was done. Two reviewers 
independently assessed the quality of the included studies. Data were extracted using a table format 
set by the reviewers referring the previously reported high‑quality systematic reviews. Out of the 12 
comparisons of nine studies included for review, eight studies report that breastfeeding education 
has added advantage on increasing the rate of EBF. We conclude that there is evidence to support 
breastfeeding education versus standard hospital information across diverse settings.

Keywords

Breastfeed
education
systematic review
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 12, Issue 4
April 2022
Pages 1-9

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