Perspectives on promoting breastmilk feedings for premature infants during a quality improvement project.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated clinicians' perspectives during a quality improvement project to promote breastmilk feedings in premature infants.

STUDY DESIGN: From 2009 to 2010, 11 hospitals in the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative participated in a project to promote breastmilk feedings in premature infants. Audio recordings of monthly meetings held to encourage sharing of ideas were analyzed using qualitative methods to identify common themes related to barriers and solutions to breastmilk feeding promotion.

RESULTS: Two broad categories were noted: communication and team composition. Communication subthemes included (1) communication among hospital staff, including consistent documentation, (2) communication with family, and (3) communication between transfer hospitals. Team composition subthemes included (4) importance of physician buy-in and (5) integrated teams designed to empower leaders.

CONCLUSIONS: Optimizing communication among health professionals and parents and improving team composition may be key components of facilitating breastmilk feeding promotion in premature infants.