To what extent can having the necessary information facilitate breastfeeding? If it is essential for mothers, their environment also matters. Support for breastfeeding increases the success and duration of this, also when it is the couple who is there.
A study indicates that if the partner of the nursing woman receives breastfeeding training, she will breastfeed her baby for longer. Specifically, it was found that women are more likely to breastfeed their babies beyond three months when parents participate in a program to promote breastfeeding in the hospital.
It is confirmed that the role of the father in breastfeeding is simple but important. There are no excuses like "It's a woman's thing" or "I can't do anything".
This is a study published in "Pediatrics" conducted by researchers at the Institute of Technology of the University of Ontario, Canada and that had data from two groups of 214 new mothers with their partners. One group accessed the usual hospital orientation on breastfeeding while the partners in the other group had extra information.
These met in the hospital for 15 minutes with a specialist and took brochures, a video and the address of a website with information on breastfeeding techniques, community resources and a guide that guides parents on how they can collaborate.
In addition, when the babies were two weeks old, they contacted the parents to remind them of available consultation resources and answer any questions they may have. And what was the result in breastfeeding rates?
More than 95% of the mothers in the second group continued to breastfeed their babies at three months, while in the first group that figure dropped to 88%.
But why "trained" parents can contribute to this improvement in breastfeeding rates? They are more confident in their ability to collaborate with breastfeeding and, as their partners confirm (to a greater extent than those in the first group), they had helped them with breastfeeding and were happy with their collaboration.
Yes, after all it is a collaboration, a support, but we go back to the beginning: that is also important, especially if the mother is new and faces many doubts and fears. The support of the parents and their accompaniment helped the mothers to persevere when they feel tired, frustrated or insecure.
Of course, parents who participate in the care of the baby and household chores are also important and encourage the mother to feel better.
In short, if with only 15 minutes of explanations or a video, good results are already achieved, the importance of the presence of parents in childbirth preparation courses should be emphasized, for example, with information for them. They should also be present in the messages with information on breastfeeding in other areas (hospitals, promotional campaigns ...).
So we know, the parents involved are a great support at all times for the mother, also when breastfeeding the baby. When difficulties arise in breastfeeding, an informed person who listens and advises does a lot of good. So, shouldn't the information also be oriented to them?
