{"title":"Factors Influencing Health Professionals’ Decisions Regarding the Indication of Infant Formula: A Qualitative Exploration in Uruguay","authors":"Alejandra Girona, Gerónimo Brunet, Gastón Ares, Raquel Rodríguez, Carolina de León, Mónica Lozano, Leticia Vidal","doi":"10.1177/08903344241271346","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background:Health systems are fundamental to the promotion and protection of breastfeeding. Health professionals have a pivotal influence on families’ infant feeding decisions and may act as facilitators or barriers to adequate breastfeeding practices.Research Aim:To explore factors influencing health professionals’ decisions regarding the indication of infant formula in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, an emerging Latin American country.Method:This was a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 30 health professionals (neonatologists, pediatricians, family doctors, and nurses) working in primary and secondary care in both private and public health institutions. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis based on deductive-inductive coding.Results:The narratives of the participants identified maternity wards as the healthcare sites where the indication of infant formula occurs most frequently. Motives underlying the indication of infant formula by health professionals were diverse. The type of birth and the conditions of the child and the mother were the most relevant in secondary care, whereas maternal work was the main determining factor in primary care. A wide range of factors encouraging and discouraging the indication of infant formula were identified by health professionals in primary and secondary healthcare locations, which were related to all the levels of influence of the socioecological model.Conclusions:Strategies to reduce the use of infant formula in Uruguay should include improving the support and guidance provided to families in the maternity ward, strengthening the implementation and monitoring of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, and improving the current maternity leave regulations.","PeriodicalId":15948,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Lactation","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Human Lactation","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08903344241271346","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background:Health systems are fundamental to the promotion and protection of breastfeeding. Health professionals have a pivotal influence on families’ infant feeding decisions and may act as facilitators or barriers to adequate breastfeeding practices.Research Aim:To explore factors influencing health professionals’ decisions regarding the indication of infant formula in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, an emerging Latin American country.Method:This was a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 30 health professionals (neonatologists, pediatricians, family doctors, and nurses) working in primary and secondary care in both private and public health institutions. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis based on deductive-inductive coding.Results:The narratives of the participants identified maternity wards as the healthcare sites where the indication of infant formula occurs most frequently. Motives underlying the indication of infant formula by health professionals were diverse. The type of birth and the conditions of the child and the mother were the most relevant in secondary care, whereas maternal work was the main determining factor in primary care. A wide range of factors encouraging and discouraging the indication of infant formula were identified by health professionals in primary and secondary healthcare locations, which were related to all the levels of influence of the socioecological model.Conclusions:Strategies to reduce the use of infant formula in Uruguay should include improving the support and guidance provided to families in the maternity ward, strengthening the implementation and monitoring of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative, and improving the current maternity leave regulations.
期刊介绍:
Committed to the promotion of diversity and equity in all our policies and practices, our aims are:
To provide our readers and the international communities of clinicians, educators and scholars working in the field of lactation with current and quality-based evidence, from a broad array of disciplines, including the medical sciences, basic sciences, social sciences and the humanities.
To provide student and novice researchers, as well as, researchers whose native language is not English, with expert editorial guidance while preparing their work for publication in JHL.
In each issue, the Journal of Human Lactation publishes original research, original theoretical and conceptual articles, discussions of policy and practice issues, and the following special features:
Advocacy: A column that discusses a ‘hot’ topic in lactation advocacy
About Research: A column focused on an in-depth discussion of a different research topic each issue
Lactation Newsmakers: An interview with a widely-recognized outstanding expert in the field from around the globe
Research Commentary: A brief discussion of the issues raised in a specific research article published in the current issue
Book review(s): Reviews written by content experts about relevant new publications
International News Briefs: From major international lactation organizations.