Title

Interventions and Programs to Promote Breastfeeding in Arabic-Speaking Countries: A Scoping Review

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Introduction

Low prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in the Arab world is concerning and suboptimal breastfeeding is a leading child health risk factor in several Arab States. Breastfeeding education has the capacity to improve breastfeeding knowledge and practice, thus positively impacting infant and maternal health. The purpose of this review is to identify and examine the impact of breastfeeding promotion interventions across the Arab world.

Method

A scoping review of the literature was conducted across seventeen databases for relevant publications published through October 2021 to find studies in Arab countries, that involved breastfeeding as an intervention component. Twenty-one articles met inclusion criteria and were reviewed.

Results

Individual and community based educational interventions offer the opportunity to positively impact the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of breastfeeding in new mothers in Arab countries. Increased breastfeeding has the potential to lead to improved neonate and maternal health. In addition to significant benefits found across individual and community-based interventions in a variety of Arab countries, there is also evidence that interventions that improve the knowledge of health care professionals and/or the practices of a health care system can contribute to subsequent increases in breastfeeding rates.

Discussion

Breastfeeding education is a low-cost and high-impact public health tool that can impact infant and maternal health and potentially increase breastfeeding adherence in the Arab world.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03595-7

Rights

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Citation/Publisher Attribution

Aboul-Enein, B.H., Dodge, E., Benajiba, N. et al. Interventions and Programs to Promote Breastfeeding in Arabic-Speaking Countries: A Scoping Review. Matern Child Health J (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03595-7

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