Family Physician's Knowledge, Attitude, Experience and Training on Breastfeeding

Kim, Hai Lim; Lee, Hong Soo; Oh, Young A; Kim, Su Yun

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding is not common in Korea despite its known benefits. The role of family physicians is important in promoting breast-feeding since they can provide prenatal and postnatal care on lifelong basis. This paper analyzed a survey of family physicians on their knowledge, attitude, experience, and training concerning breastfeeding.
METHODS
The survey was carried out by e-mail enquiry to the residents and board-certified physicians registered in the Korean Academy of Family Medicine. The enquiry was developed by Gary L. Freed composed of 18 questions about knowledge, attitudes, experience, and training. The answers to the questions were analyzed to give frequency and the associations between the variables.
RESULTS
Among the total, 64% of the residents and 76% of the physicians answered yes to whether breastfeeding was the best means of feeding an infant under 6 months of age. Also, 83% of the residents and 85% of physicians answered it was right to quit breastfeeding completely when breast abscess developed. The breastfeeding promotion was done more frequently by those who had personal experience. They had higher rate of educating patients than those who did not (28% vs. 9%, P<0.0001). Despite its importance, 86.5% of the residents and 77.6% of the physicians answered that they did not have enough opportunity to learn about breastfeeding during their training years.
CONCLUSION
Although family physicians are required to play a role in promoting breastfeeding, they are insufficiently trained under the current system. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a traning program to educate the residents on breastfeeding.