Investigating interactive methods in remote chestfeeding support for lactation consulting professionals in Brazil

Jessica de Souza; Cinthia Calsinski; Kristina Chamberlain; Franceli Cibrian; Edward Jay Wang

doi:10.3389/fdgth.2023.1143528

Investigating interactive methods in remote chestfeeding support for lactation consulting professionals in Brazil

Front Digit Health. 2023 Apr 3:5:1143528. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2023.1143528. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jessica de Souza¹, Cinthia Calsinski², Kristina Chamberlain³, Franceli Cibrian⁴, Edward Jay Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
² Independent Researcher, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
³ Division of Extended Studies, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States.
⁴ Fowler School of Engineering, Chapman University, Orange, CA, United States.

Abstract

Objective: Lactation consultants (LCs) positively impact chestfeeding rates by providing in-person support to struggling parents. In Brazil, LCs are a scarce resource and in high demand, risking chestfeeding rates across many communities nationwide. The transition to remote consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic made LCs face several challenges to solve chestfeeding problems due to limited technical resources for management, communication, and diagnosis. This study investigates the main technological issues LCs have in remote consultations and what technology features are helpful for chestfeeding problem-solving in remote settings.

Methods: This paper implements qualitative investigation through a contextual study ( $n = 10$ ) and a participatory session ( $n = 5$ ) to determine stakeholders' preferences for technology features in solving chestfeeding problems.

Findings: The contextual study with LCs in Brazil characterized (1) the current appropriation of technologies that help during consultations, (2) technology limitations that affect LCs' decision-making, (3) challenges and benefits of remote consultations, and (4) cases that are easy and difficult to solve remotely. The participatory session brings LCs' perceptions on (1) components for an effective remote evaluation, (2) preferred elements by professionals when providing remote feedback to parents, and (3) feelings about using technology resources for remote consultations.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that LCs adapted their methodologies for remote consultations, and the perceived benefits of this modality show interest in continuing to provide remote care as long as more integrative and nurturing applications are offered to their clients. We learned that fully remote lactation care might not be the main objective for overall populations in Brazil, but as a hybrid mode of care that benefits parents by having both modalities of consultations available to them. Finally, remote support helps reduce financial, geographic, and cultural barriers in lactation care. However, future research must identify how generalized solutions for remote lactation care can be, especially for different cultures and regions.

Keywords: chestfeeding; chestfeeding support; human–computer interaction; lactation consultant; remote care.

Grants and funding

This research was conducted with support from the Google Health Equity Research Initiative, awarded in November 17, 2022. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.