Women satisfaction with breastfeeding care in maternity hospitals: a survey from Italy

TL;DR

This study surveys Italian mothers' satisfaction with breastfeeding care in hospitals and finds mostly positive feedback but highlights gaps in post-discharge information.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into women's satisfaction with breastfeeding support in Italian maternity hospitals and identifies a gap in post-discharge information.

Findings

Most women positively evaluated postnatal care and breastfeeding support in maternity hospitals.

20.2% of women reported insufficient information about post-discharge breastfeeding support.

Positive satisfaction results should be interpreted cautiously due to unclear expectations.

Abstract

This study examines the satisfaction of women with the breastfeeding support they received in a sample of Italian maternity hospitals as part of postnatal care.

Between November 15th and December 15th, 2023, a 20-items questionnaire was administered to 20 mothers who were consecutively discharged from each of the 26 Maternity Hospitals, that participate in a national project on the promotion of breastfeeding.

A total of 520 questionnaires were collected. Overall, the evaluation provided by women regarding the postnatal care was positive. The health team was perceived as welcoming, communicating clear information, practically and emotionally supporting, helpful in teaching how to take care of their baby and respectful of the mother-baby relationship. Moreover, the team was considered attentive to preventing and treating pain experienced by new mothers. In 20.2% of cases, women reported that the information provided about support resources after hospital discharge was lacking.

The current study indicates that most women view postpartum care and breastfeeding support positively. However, positive results in studies assessing women's satisfaction must be interpreted with caution, as the relationship between expectations and satisfaction is not always clear. Additionally, we need to carefully consider what women report on insufficient information provided at hospital discharge, which may impact subsequent support.

Support for breastfeeding is an essential component of the postpartum care provided to the mother-baby dyad and should be assessed in MHs

Positive evaluation of women’ satisfaction with postpartum care and breastfeeding should be interpreted with caution, while negative results should be considered carefully

In Italy, information to women on available breastfeeding support after hospital discharge is reported to be suboptimal.

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