Interprofessional undergraduate breastfeeding education: a scoping review

Breastfeeding care and support from healthcare professionals are essential for breastfeeding success. To provide consistent, evidence-based care, healthcare professionals require comprehensive breastfeeding education. However, it is unclear as to how breastfeeding curricula integrate interprofessional education (IPE) across undergraduate health programmes. This scoping review examines and summarises interprofessional breastfeeding curricula designed for undergraduate or pre-registration health students.

The inclusion criteria for this review are: studies that report on undergraduate breastfeeding curricula that have an IPE component. Guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review framework, five databases (Medline (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), ERIC (EBSCO), Social Sciences and Cochrane Databases of Systematic Reviews) and three grey literature sources (Google scholar, BASE and NICE website) were searched in September 2024, supplemented by grey literature searches and reference list screening.

Of 1,263 identified articles, 927 underwent title and abstract screening, 46 full texts were assessed, and 14 met inclusion criteria. Data were extracted and presented using tables, figures, and narrative synthesis. Findings indicate that while breastfeeding education was delivered to multiple student groups, interprofessional engagement was limited, and IPE competencies were not consistently embedded. Learning was primarily uniprofessional, with students learning with, but not from and about each other. Assessment strategies were rarely reported, and while knowledge, confidence, and attitudes were measured, long-term behavioral change (e.g. improved breastfeeding rates over time) was not evaluated. Faculty and students acknowledged IPE's potential benefits, yet challenges such as logistical barriers and limited faculty training persisted.

Strengthening IPE integration, faculty development, and structured competency assessment could enhance interprofessional breastfeeding education. This is not only an educational reform but a strategic response to the public health barrier of inconsistent breastfeeding advice. Taking an interprofessional approach to breastfeeding education offers a progressive path to harmonize clinical messaging, improve continuity of care, and build trust between families and healthcare providers.