Promoting breastfeeding in sick newborns arrangement integration breastfeeding instruction in the Bachelor of Nursing Program

Abstract

                 The World Health Organization (WHO) has made breastfeeding a priority. The baby should receive only mother’s milk from birth to 6 months.Thailand has a campaign to promote an exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months and continue to received breast milk until a child is two years old. Sick infants often have to be separated from their mothers after birth for being treated at the sick newborn unit. This situation may impede infants from being breastfed from birth or continuing until 6 months of age. Successful promotion of breastfeeding in sick newborns requires attitudes and the value of exclusive breastfeeding for at least 6 months. Even if an infant is sick, a mother can still breastfeed and sick infants must be properly breastfed as normal ones. Prof. Diane L. Spatz’s 10 steps ladder in breastfeeding for sick infants has been used as a model for breastfeeding since then. Nurses are important personnel in promoting and supporting breastfeeding. The Thai Nursing Council defines the competency of professional nurses at the bachelor’s level that all nurses must to have competencies in taking care of mothers in the periods of pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and promotion of breastfeeding. Therefore, integrating breastfeeding support in the Bachelor of Nursing Science program is important to prepare nursing graduates for applying knowledge and skills to nursing practice. Thus, the purpose of this academic article was to review on the teaching and learning on promoting breastfeeding by using the Concept of Entrustable professional activities in nursing education so that the professional nurses can perform their responsibilities properly and safely.

               Keywords: Breast feeding, Sick newborn, Nursing competencies, Entrustable professional activities