Document resource
Background There is strong evidence to show that breastfeeding improves maternal and infant health outcomes. However, with only 59% of babies in Scotland still receiving any breastmilk by their first Health Visitor (HV) visit (financial year 23/24), there is room for improvement. Delivering Early Breastfeeding Support (DEBS) is a targeted quality improvement project launched in 2019, providing proactive breastfeeding support to women (and pregnant people) and their families, in addition to routine care. The aim of this project is to reduce attrition rates at first HV visit by 2%.Methods The DEBS project uses quality improvement methodology based on the findings of the FEST (FEeding Support Team) study, which explored telephone support for breastfeeding women. Project participants are recruited with informed consent from a district general hospital antenatal caseload. Once enrolled, patients have an antenatal conversation with a Midwife. They then receive a visit in hospital following birth and are offered proactive telephone support, until the baby is 28 days old.Results In 2019, the year before DEBS started recruiting project participants, the attrition rate at first HV visit (in our first established area) was 27.9%. After the first year of the DEBS project in 2020, it fell to 16.4%. These results have been sustained in subsequent years. In 2024 the attrition rate in this area was 12.9%.Conclusion DEBS has demonstrated that access to practical, proactive breastfeeding support can significantly reduce breastfeeding attrition rates. Sustained results since the project began suggests that these targeted interventions are having a genuine positive impact on breastfeeding rates amongst participants. Due to these continued results, DEBS has been implemented into more areas within Lothian and continues to expand.