Assessing the international Breastfeeding and Early Interaction Course in the COVID-19 era: student feedback and suggestions for improvement

Abstract

With the global target of achieving an exclusive breastfeeding rate of 70% for babies up to 6 months old by 2030, there is a significant need for educated and skilled multiprofessional healthcare teams to support, protect, and promote breastfeeding. The Erasmus+ programme for the period of 2021–2027 supports the adoption of digital technologies, innovative and open pedagogies in education and training, and is also designed to reach out to a larger and more diverse group of students and staff in higher education. Since 2012, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and Tallinn Health Care College have been providing education on basic skills and knowledge of breastfeeding to healthcare students of different curricula. The objective of the Breastfeeding and Early Interaction Course (BF&EI Course) is to facilitate collaborative online learning exchange and teamwork among different healthcare professionals. Student feedback is one of the factors influencing the development of a study course. After the course, students are equipped to provide clinical breastfeeding counselling and help mothers with lactation problems. However, the COVID-19 pandemic restricted contact studies and hence had some influence on the learning experience of the students as well as on the development of the breastfeeding course.