UCC awarded €2.5m for first-of-its-kind study to improve support for breastfeeding

(Left to right) Dr Aoife Fleming, UCC School of Pharmacy with Dr Helen Mulcahy, Professor Patricia Leahy-Warren (PI), Dr Elaine Lehane and Dr Margaret Murphy from the UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery at today's announcement.

University College Cork (UCC) has been awarded €2.5m in funding for a first-of-its-kind study of the barriers preventing women from breastfeeding, and how best to prioritise breastfeeding as a public health issue.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months to achieve optimal growth, development, and health.

At present, breastfeeding rates in Ireland are among the lowest in the developed world: among high-income OECD countries, Ireland ranks in last place.

The team of researchers from UCC's School of Nursing and Midwifery hope their major international study can help to "bridge the gap" between increased evidence of the value of breastfeeding, and the implementation of effective actions required to support breastfeeding for women.

Through their study, the researchers say they are aiming "to elevate the importance of breastfeeding" and to influence "sustainable changes to protect, promote, and support it".

The study will also investigate the barriers—practical, societal, and cultural—which may prevent women from breastfeeding.

The research team plans to collaborate with women, families, healthcare professionals, healthcare systems and community groups "to prioritise women-centred breastfeeding care and support since pregnancy" with an aim to "improve the breastfeeding education, training, and skills of healthcare professionals".

“Breastfeeding is not the sole responsibility of women, but society’s collective responsibility," said Professor Patricia Leahy-Warren, head of UCC's School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Prof. Leahy-Warren, who will be leading the study, said the funding, awarded by the Health Research Board (HRB), will enable her and her colleagues to adopt "a 360° approach to shift the focus away from pressure on individual women and towards addressing government policy, legal protections, health systems, communities, and workplaces".

"It will also explore the social and cultural attitudes, familial support, health professional education and skilled breastfeeding support needed for women," she said.

Prof. Leahy-Warren added that the study has the potential to have "wide-reaching impact not just across the island of Ireland but beyond, through sharing and translating knowledge on how to tackle a perpetual public health issue of global importance".

Applied Programme Awards

The breastfeeding research is one of three UCC projects awarded a combined €7.5m in funding by the HRB through its Applied Programme Awards.

Dr Pauline Frizelle of the college's School of Clinical Therapies has been awarded €2.5m to investigate problems children experience with language and communication and to ensure that interventions to support children's language and communication deliver maximum benefit.

Professor Deirdre Bennett, head of UCC's Medical Education Unit, has also been awarded just under €2.5m in funding for research exploring the skills healthcare professionals need to develop in relation to climate change awareness and sustainability.

Congratulating all of the researchers, Professor Helen Whelton, head of UCC's College of Medicine and Health, said each project exemplified "the vast potential of the academic-service partnership fostered by an academic health sciences system" and would "benefit the health and welfare of patients and the public by applying new scientific knowledge, enhancing services and improving patient outcomes in the targeted communities".