Can a phone call make a difference? Breastfeeding self-efficacy and nurse responses to mother's calls for help

Telephone support is a format that presents an opportunity to sustain breastfeeding at a time when mothers identify themselves as at risk of cessation. The interactive mechanisms by which support is provided have not, however, been well investigated. We aimed to identify characteristics of calls that support breastfeeding self-efficacy. Thematic analysis of 149 calls from mothers seeking help for breastfeeding made to a 24-hour parenting helpline over a four week period, in Brisbane, Australia. Call-takers were 12 qualified and experienced maternal and child health nurses. Calls classified according to changes in breastfeeding self-efficacy across the call were thematically analysed to identify distinguishing interactional characteristics. Key interactional characteristics that served to build self-efficacy were privileging the mother, teamwork and credible affirmation while those that failed to build self-efficacy were laissez-faire affirmation and pragmatic problem-solving responses. Nurse responses that undermined caller self-efficacy conceptualized breastfeeding as a problem. Telephone helplines have potential to enhance mothers' confidence and sustain breastfeeding when there is a call for help, this study highlights that the style of interaction is critical. The findings identify the need for specific training to increase awareness of interactional styles and delivery of advice through telehealth formats

Supporting, failing to support and undermining breastfeeding self-efficacy: analyses of helpline calls

Although a complexity of factors explain early cessation of breastfeeding, the encounter of a problem is often a critical point in this decision. For this reason, breastfeeding self-efficacy, a mother's evaluations of her ability to successfully overcome challenges, is an effective target in interventions to sustain breastfeeding. This study examined factors affecting the success of one such intervention, reactive telephone support. Across a 4-week period, recordings of all calls to a nurse-staffed parent helpline in Queensland,Australia were made. Of these calls, 60 were from mothers encountering a breastfeeding problem. Using a standard protocol, each call was scored for trajectories of mother's breastfeeding self-efficacy from opening to close of call. Calls showing an upward trajectory were defined as supporting(53%), those with no change were defined as ineffective(25%), and those with downward trajectory as undermining(22%). Using trajectory scores, case exemplars were purposively selected for detailed analysis of interactional sequences to identify strategies that distinguished outcome. The support-ive call was distinguished by information sharing, mutual trust and respectful relation-ships, and personalized affirmation and advice. The ineffective call focused on technical aspects of breastfeeding, whereas the undermining call made moral judgements of mother's behaviour. The findings identify interactional quality of telephone support, not simply provision, as the key success factor in reactive telephone support. The findings also present interactional quality as a potential explanation for inconsistent outcomes in evaluation of reactive telehealth interventions to support breastfeedin