Has a national policy guideline influenced the practice of raising the topic of alcohol and breastfeeding by maternal healthcare practitioners?
Roslyn Carmel Giglia
A B and Tracy Reibel A
A Alcohol, Pregnancy and FASD Research Program, Telethon Kids Institute, University of Western Australia, FASD Research Australia Centre of Research Excellence, Perth Children’s Hospital, 15 Hospital Avenue, Nedlands, WA 6009, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: roslyn.giglia@telethonkids.org.au
Australian Journal of Primary Health 25(3) 275-280 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY18103
Submitted: 9 July 2018 Accepted: 8 May 2019 Published: 21 June 2019
Abstract
Globally, the public health recommendation for exclusive breastfeeding to the first 6 months of life is not being achieved by many low- and middle-income countries. Many factors have been determined to affect the early cessation of breastfeeding; however, little attention has been paid to the role of alcohol, an increasingly favoured commodity, particularly in these Westernised nations. Maternal healthcare practitioners play a pivotal role in a woman’s breastfeeding journey by providing timely advice that can help support continued breastfeeding. Maternal healthcare practitioners (MHP) from across Australia were invited to take part in a semi-structured telephone interview (n = 19) to elicit their knowledge of a national alcohol policy guideline on alcohol and breastfeeding, their confidence to provide information on this topic, and if they were routinely incorporating conversations on alcohol and breastfeeding into their practice. The results affirmed that the majority of MHP were not aware of the national policy providing direction for safely consuming alcohol during lactation and were not incorporating this information into their practice. This study suggests having a national policy guideline for safe alcohol consumption during lactation has not promoted awareness of this topic among MHP as a potential strategy to support long-term breastfeeding duration.
Additional keywords: midwife, obstetrician, research translation.
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