Evaluation of breastfeeding attitudes and education of Greek gynecology professionals to improve the educational curriculum of Obstetrics & Gynecology Departments

Abstract

\n Background\n\nTo investigate the knowledge level, attitudes and perceptions of Gynecology healthcare professionals in Greece towards breastfeeding.\nMethods\n\nA self-administered questionnaire was provided asking to answer multiple choice questions. The study was conducted mainly at the facilities of Medical Faculty Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The questionnaire was administered to 312 healthcare professionals (nurses, students, physicians and other healthcare professionals).\nResults\n\nOver 70% supported that their breastfeeding knowledge was moderate at best and could be further improved. 30% lacked knowledge concerning the management of special breastfeeding scenarios. 84% had previous personal breastfeeding experience or at least are willing to do so in the future (themselves or their partners) with 39.1% aiming to breastfeed approximately for one year. The same pattern was observed in terms of their breastfeeding recommendations to other mothers regardless of their sex. 59.6% admitted that they do not have the necessary time to properly inform mothers about breastfeeding while 72.4% acknowledged improper breastfeeding information as an important factor for the low breastfeeding rates in Greece. Finally, 80.4% stated that their education was lacking in didactic depth and their training in hands-on experience while 88.8% clearly underlined that there was definitely room for improvement in their education/training curriculum. Expert teams, well-organized educational programs and advanced computing could contribute to the personnel’s harmonization with the various breastfeeding objectives to create a “breastfeeding-friendly” social environment.\nConclusions\n\nThis study revealed that although most Greek gynecology healthcare professionals have very positive attitudes towards breastfeeding, their breastfeeding knowledge was moderate at best and could be further improved.