Literature Synthesis
Breast milk provides essential and adequate nutrients that all babies require immediately after birth. Unfortunately, many women fail to breastfeed their babies due to several reasons, including a lack of adequate knowledge, postpartum depression, careers, and discomfort. This paper proposes that the decision to offer formal prenatal breastfeeding education to pregnant women can increase breastfeeding initiation and retainment for six months postpartum. The developed PICOT question using the identified problem will guide the research study and eventually present evidence-based insights for empowering more women and their newborn babies.
Background Information
Medical professionals and pediatrics support breastfeeding since it is the best way to feed newborn babies. Breast milk provides essential nutrients during the first few months after birth. Mothers who breastfeed for longer will create stronger bonds with their babies (Burgio et al., 2016). However, breastfeeding can be a tricky or hard task for many young women. Some mothers might be uncomfortable with it while others tend to be unavailable due to the nature of their careers.
Those who lack adequate understanding of the benefits of breastfeeding will be disadvantaged (Albrecht, S. A., Wang, J., & Spatz, D. (2017). The current problem is that some mothers do not breastfeed for at least six months after birth. This challenge is capable of affecting their babies’ psychological, physical, and mental abilities.
The absence of proper mechanisms to train and empower expectant women about the best breastfeeding practices and techniques affect the health outcomes of many babies. Such programs are known to equip pregnant women with evidence-based concepts and ideas for feeding, washing, and taking good care of their newborn babies. Albrecht et al. (2017) observed that women who acquired adequate prenatal education had increased chances of giving birth to healthy babies.
Additionally, such individuals could avoid malpractices such as smoking and drinking alcohol. Others were also found to use a wide range of drugs and food supplements to improve their health conditions (Albrecht et al., 2017). Similarly, the provision of proper prenatal education to pregnant women is an evidence-based practice that can empower them to breastfeed for more months and monitor the health statuses of their babies.
PICOT Question
PICOT: Do pregnant women who receive formal prenatal breastfeeding education compared to those who do not record increased breastfeeding initiation and retainment rates for six months postpartum?
- P: Pregnant women
- I: Formal prenatal breastfeeding education
- C: No prenatal breastfeeding education
- O: Breastfeeding initiation and retainment
- T: Six months
Search Strategy
The successful completion of the proposed study will depend on the selected sources of information. The identified databases for this research include EBSCOhost, PubMed, and ProQuest. These keywords will also be considered for this research: postpartum, prenatal, breastfeeding, prenatal breastfeeding education, and postnatal. Some of the projected limits to the search include the nature of targeted articles and the language used. This means that the selected documents should have been published within the past four years. They should also be presented or written in the English language. From this analysis, it is agreeable that the search strategy is capable of addressing the above PICOT question and providing adequate ideas and information for completing the study.
Conclusion
The above synthesis has revealed that there is a need for a new study to examine the unique benefits of formal prenatal breastfeeding education to pregnant women. The formulated PICOT question is expected to guide the research process and deliver meaningful ideas for implementing evidence-based programs. The overall outcome is that more babies and their respective mothers will record positive health outcomes.
Response to Classmates’ Posts
The selected posts analyze and discuss critical issues that medical professionals should take seriously to meet their patients’ health demands. In the first one, the author supports the power of therapeutic play in hospitalized children. This evidence-based approach can reduce anger, anxiety, helplessness, and uncertainty in such individuals, thereby resulting in improved physiological wellbeing. In the second article, the author acknowledges that hospital readmissions can be costly for many patients.
The writer supports the effectiveness of follow-up calls after discharge to meet the needs of the targeted individuals. The practice will prevent readmission and make it possible for many individuals to achieve their health goals. The third post focuses on the challenge of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). This side effect associated with cancer treatment procedures can result in numerous medical complications (McDonough, 2015).
According to the author, ginger contains active ingredients that can address this complication, including gingerols, zingerone, zingiberene, schools, and paradol. The use of this compound can meet the health needs of many cancer patients suffering from CINV. In the fourth article, my classmate indicates that catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) occur due to improper care practices, poor sterilization of catheters, and lack of adequate skills.
This means that there is a need for medical institutions to introduce adequate resources and guidelines to address this challenge, reduce readmission rates, and improve patients’ health experiences (McDonough, 2015). In conclusion, these four posts present relevant PICOT questions that can support the completion of the targeted studies and deliver evidence-based insights for recording positive health results.
References
Albrecht, S. A., Wang, J., & Spatz, D. (2017). A call to action to address barriers to breastfeeding and lactation faced by student-mothers. Nursing for Women’s Health, 21(6), 431-437. Web.
Burgio, M. A., Laganà, A. S., Sicilia, A., Porta, R. P., Porpora, M. G., Frangež, H.B., … Triolo, O. (2016). Breastfeeding education: Where are we going? A systematic review article. Iranian Journal of Public Health, 45(8), 970-977.
McDonough, J. E. (2015). The United States health system in transition. Health Systems & Reform, 1(1), 39-51. Web.