Browsing by Author "Hanapi, Amy"

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    Improving Prenatal Breastfeeding Education in a Baby-Friendly Facility in Hawai`i County: A Quality Improvement Project
    (2019-08-06) Hanapi, Amy; Shmina, Kimberly; Van Hoose, Diane
    Problem: Recommendations from international and national organizations include promoting exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. While Hawai`i is one of the states with the highest breastfeeding rates, we still fall short of recommendations. North Hawai`i Community Hospital (NHCH) has Baby-Friendly designation, and a policy following the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, however, the education provided to patients is inconsistent and non-standardized. This leads to some patients being admitted for labor having potentially conflicting, limited, or no breastfeeding knowledge. Purpose: The purpose of this project was to address this gap in care by creating a prenatal breastfeeding education packet. By increasing and improving prenatal education, the hope is to then increase exclusive breastfeeding rates. Methods: A prenatal breastfeeding education packet was created, and presented twice. It was first presented to providers in an educational session, which also addressed current recommendations regarding breastfeeding, as well as the facility’s infant feeding policy, and basic breastfeeding knowledge. The packet was then presented to prenatal patients in multiple, informal educational sessions. Analysis: Both groups were given pre- and posttests to evaluate knowledge of the materials before and after each educational session, and each group was asked four evaluation questions. Demographic data was also collected from each participant. Each group’s data were analyzed separately, via paired t-tests and descriptive statistics. Results: While the provider group’s mean test score difference was not statistically significant, they all found great value in the education packet. The patient group’s mean test scores showed statistically significant improvement, and they also found great value in the packet for prenatal patients.