In Situ Simulation in Prenatal Breastfeeding Education

According to the World Health Organization, breastfeeding should be initiated within the first hour of life, being exclusive for children up to six months of age, complemented and continued for up to two years or more. However, despite the countless benefits of human milk for both maternal and child health and for society as a whole, establishing and maintaining breastfeeding, in accordance with international guidelines, is still a challenge. Low breastfeeding rates can be observed in several countries around the world.

Breastfeeding education should be initiated during prenatal care. Studies indicate that high quality education throughout prenatal care is a protective factor for the success of breastfeeding. However, pregnant people are not always properly advised about breastfeeding. Most of the times, breastfeeding education in prenatal care is carried out through traditional teaching methods, which are more based on behavioral education and do not encourage an individual's autonomy in the teaching-learning process.

On the other hand, experiential learning is more related to constructive education, by encouraging the co-creation of a learning environment, where the teacher/nurse becomes a facilitator based on the learner's needs. Clinical simulation is an educational technique that promotes an active learning experience, through the imitation of reality in a safe and controlled environment, being able to increase participant's knowledge, skills, confidence, and clinical judgment. Among the existing simulation modalities, in situ simulation stands out as the one that takes place in the real environment (hospitals, outpatient clinics, and community). In situ simulation has several specific advantages from an educational and economic point of view.

Simulation has already been used in breastfeeding teaching. Some studies describe and evaluate the use of simulation-based education to teach breastfeeding to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as for lactation support providers training. Multiple types of simulation have been used to teach breastfeeding, including hybrid simulation, Objective Structured Clinical Examination, telesimulation and virtual simulation.

However, there is little literature exploring the use of simulation for the education of patients. Usually, experiences using simulators to teach pregnant and postpartum people about breastfeeding do not consist of structured and validated scenarios, focusing only on demonstrating the breastfeeding technique with low-fidelity simulators. There are no studies in the literature about in situ simulation scenarios created specifically for patients and implemented in the community.