Table 1 Summary of publications about breastfeeding drop-in centres (alphabetical order, by first author)
First author [reference] Journal, year | Location Drop-in services offered | Methodology; Data collection | Response fraction | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Adams et al. [15] JOGNN, 2001 | Dufferin County, Ontario, Canada Hospital-based clinic (2.5Â h, 3 times per week) | Retrospective service evaluation | 164/242* (68%) *Numbers of respondents reported are inconsistent throughout paper | â–ª Drop-in centre located within a hospital, next to the obstetric unit â–ª Access to the drop-in centre was for women seeking breastfeeding support, both as inpatients and after discharge â–ª Participants were surveyed on their experiences and satisfaction with the drop-in centre services â–ª Data collected was compared to the previous data available on breastfeeding women from the local area |
Berridge et al. [14] Maternal and Child Nutrition, 2005 | North-west England Hospital-based clinic (1 morning per week)Â +Â telephone help line | Exploratory, descriptive study; Written questionnaire, Field notes | 80/108 (74%) | â–ª Drop-in centre run as a clinic within a hospital, in the antenatal parentcraft room â–ª Written questionnaire was the primary data source. However, informal conversations between the researcher and the women attending the drop-in centre allowed in-depth field notes to be collected â–ª Targeted clients with a lower socioeconomic status (SES) but results showed a higher SES sample, with older, more educated participants |
Caddy [16] The Practising Midwife, 2002 | Reading, England Hospital-based drop-in clinic (2Â h, 3 times per week) | Description of services | Not reported | â–ª Thorough description of the considerations of running a drop-in service; particularly timing, venue, staffing, advertising and funding â–ª This was a descriptive paper, not an evaluation so there are no data on the efficacy of the services |
Fox et al. [19] BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2015 | UK Community-based drop-in sessions | Qualitative, descriptive study; 47 interviews (41 in person, 6 phone) 5 focus groups | 51/63 (81%) | â–ª Drop-in centres run in the community by professionals and peer supporters â–ª Multiple sites included in this review: A range of metropolitan, regional and remote sites â–ª Did not invite women experiencing acute BF problems to participate â–ª Interviews were completed during the drop-in sessions, resulting in interruptions and premature ending of the interview |
Pastore & Nelson [17] Journal of Human Lactation, 1997 | Richmond, Canada Based in community centre (3Â h per week) | Descriptive study; Semi-structured telephone interviews | 57/62 (92%) | â–ª Community-based drop-in centre staffed by lactation consultants and child health nurses â–ª Women were interviewed via phone on their views and experiences of breastfeeding support from the drop-in centre â–ª Positive feedback from the women using the service but, as this was designed as a descriptive study, there was no ability for evaluation of the effect of the service on breastfeeding rates |
Price [20] Community Practitioner, 2014 | Berkshire, England Based in community health centre (frequency and duration of sessions not reported) | Service evaluation Written questionnaire | 15 (not recorded) | â–ª Multifaceted BF support service review (drop-in centre breastfeeding support was only one aspect of the evaluation) â–ª Sought feedback from the women using the centre at the time of their attendance on two days over the 6Â month evaluation, therefore has a small sample size â–ª Breastfeeding outcomes of this trial were given as an overall rate for the local area and were not specific to the impact of the drop-in centre |
Stefiuk et al. [18] Journal of Human Lactation, 2002 | Saskatoon, Canada Community-based clinic (weekdays, with telephone consultation on weekends) | Descriptive process evaluation; Phone interviews, Observation of visits Review activity logs/administrative paperwork, Self-administered written questionnaire | Written questionnaire and follow up phone interview: 43/50 (86%) Phone interview only: 25/30 (83%) Observed visits: 4 (22%) | ▪ Multifaceted design ▪ No data presented on numbers of attendances at drop-in centre or how many were contacted via telephone or how they were selected ▪ Not designed to evaluate the effect of the drop-in centre on breastfeeding but reported women’s perceptions that the drop-in centre support helped them to increase their breastfeeding duration |