Evaluation of a Breastfeeding Education Intervention for Healthcare Professionals in Idaho.

Objective: One of the nation's most significant gaps between breastfeeding initiation and long-term success is demonstrated in the state of Idaho. Breastfeeding education for healthcare professionals has been shown to have a positive impact on breastfeeding rates (Holmes et al., 2012; Qureshey et al., 2020). Methods: A breastfeeding education curriculum of 50-minute duration was delivered to 43 healthcare providers at five pediatric primary care clinics in Idaho. The objectives reflected core competency guidelines for breastfeeding knowledge and management (AAP, 2022; ABM, 2019). Pre/posttest surveys were administered to assess for change in knowledge and confidence levels. Results: An increase in mean scores in both knowledge (p <.001) and confidence (p <.001) was observed. A majority (60.5%) of the participants reported being very (n = 14, 32.6%) or extremely (n = 12, 27.9%) likely to make changes in practice after the education. Conclusions: The project demonstrated the need for and the effectiveness of breastfeeding continuing education in first-order change in pediatric primary care settings. Insights were gained into methods to optimize evaluation of future breastfeeding continuing education interventions.