Telehealth and Breastfeeding: An Integrative Review

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Informatics
• Maternal and Child Health

Background:

• Breastfeeding is crucial for infant and maternal health.
• Telehealth, utilizing information and communication technologies (ICTs), offers a safe, low-cost approach to healthcare delivery.
• Existing scientific literature addresses telehealth strategies for breastfeeding support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and review scientific articles on telehealth strategies for breastfeeding support.
• To synthesize the evidence on the effectiveness and viability of telehealth in promoting breastfeeding.

Main Methods:

• Integrative review of scientific articles published between 2000 and 2018.
• Searches conducted in Embase, Bireme, and PubMed databases using keywords 'breastfeeding' and 'telemedicine'.
• Articles analyzed qualitatively and categorized based on telehealth delivery methods.

Main Results:

• Twenty-three relevant articles were identified and categorized.
• Telehealth strategies included synchronous (phone calls, videoconferencing) and asynchronous (messaging, apps, websites) support.
• Evidence demonstrated telehealth's viability, positive impact on exclusive breastfeeding duration, and high user satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Telehealth presents viable and effective strategies for supporting breastfeeding mothers.
• The established infrastructure of telehealth hubs suggests significant potential for developing and expanding these services.
• Further innovation and implementation of telehealth in breastfeeding support are warranted.