Prescribing Video-Based Patient Education in the Hospital Setting: Can Bedside Breastfeeding Videos Affect Exclusive Breastfeeding at Postpartum Discharge?

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Evaluate the impact of a standardized bundle of educational videos delivered via the bedside television to postpartum mothers on exclusive breastfeeding rates. Despite the growing use of videos for hospital discharge education, there is a paucity of literature evaluating their effectiveness. METHODS: In November 2015, we began ordering 4 externally produced, peer-reviewed breastfeeding education videos for all postpartum mothers to view via their bedside televisions. Mothers could choose whether to watch the videos, and if they did, this was automatically documented in the electronic health record. We then performed a retrospective chart review generating a data set focusing on newborns who were healthy, term, and appropriate for gestational age, born in the year pre- and postintervention, and compared exclusive breastfeeding rates at the time of discharge among both groups. RESULTS: Our data set included 3115 newborns (1467 pre- and 1648 postintervention). In the postintervention year, the exclusive breastfeeding rate at discharge was 69.5% vs 68.4% preintervention (P value .80). Most mothers (81.3%; 1339) watched all 4 videos, and 308 mothers (18.7%) watched none. The mothers who watched all 4 videos were more likely to breastfeed exclusively (72.7% vs 55.3%) and less likely to exclusively formula feed than the mothers who watched none (1.1% vs 19.8%; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: There was no change in exclusive breastfeeding rates pre- versus post-video education intervention. However, most mothers watched all 4 videos, and those who did were significantly more likely to engage in any breastfeeding (98.9%) compared with those who watched none (80.2%) during the postpartum hospitalization.