BREAST-FEEDING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE IN FAMILY MEDICINE

Background. Physician support has been shown to increase breast-feedin g rates, but anecdotal reports suggest that physicians are ill prepare d for their role in breast-feeding promotion. Inadequate breast-feedin g education during residency training may be a contributing Factor. Me thods. A self-administered questionnaire Ii-tailed to 1099 family medi cine residents and 665 recently board-certified family physicians asse ssed knowledge, attitudes, education, and activity related to breast-f eeding promotion. Response rates were 71% for residents and 58% for ph ysicians. Results. Although residents and physicians were strongly con vinced that family physicians should be involved in breast-feeding pro motion, both groups demonstrated significant deficits in know ledge ab out breast-feeding benefits and clinical management strategies. Common errors included inappropriate recommendations for breast-feeding term ination or formula supplementation, a proven cause of breast-feeding f ailure. Personal breastfeeding experience was the only factor consiste ntly associated with more frequent breast-feeding promotion activity a mong residents and increased self-confidence for both groups. Responde nts reported only limited opportunities for developing breast-feeding counseling skills during residency training. Conclusions. Improved bre ast-feeding education is needed for family medicine residents and phys icians. Residency training and continuing education programs should em phasize the benefits of breast-feeding, clinical management strategies , and development of practical counseling skills.