Becoming breastfeeding friendly in Great Britain—Does implementation science work?

Abstract

The Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) in Great Britain study was conducted during 2017-2019 comprising three country studies: BBF England, Wales and Scotland. It was part of an international project being coordinated during the same period by the Yale School of Public Health across five world regions to inform countries and guide policies to improve the environment for the promotion, protection and support of breastfeeding. This paper reports on the application of the BBF process that is based on an implementation science approach, across the countries that constitute Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). The process involves assessing 54 benchmarks across eight interlocking gears that drive a country's 'engine' towards a sustainable policy approach to supporting, promoting and protecting breastfeeding. It takes a consensus-oriented approach to the evaluation of benchmarks and the development of recommendations. This paper provides a critical overview of how the process was conducted, the findings and recommendations that emerged and how these were managed. We draw on critical theory as a theoretical framework for explaining the different outcomes for each country and some considerations for future action.

Scaling up breastfeeding in England through the Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly initiative (BBF)

“…The three‐country committee was led by the University of Kent. The overall approach to the BBF methodology is described in Kendall et al, 2022 (BBF‐GB paper). This paper presents the BBF England process and findings.…”

Gearing to success with national breastfeeding programmes: The Becoming Breastfeeding Friendly (BBF) initiative experience

“…In this instance, one country, England was trained by the Yale School of Public Health team that developed BBF. England, in turn, trained and assisted Scotland and Wales with their implementation and oversight of BBF (Kendall et al, 2022 ). Furthermore, BBF showed the strong potential that it has to improve breastfeeding policy.…”

“…In conclusion, BBF has been successfully implemented and is informing breastfeeding policy across diverse countries' socioeconomic, cultural contexts as well as contrasting health care and social systems. This special issue represents a unique BBF ‘training‐of‐trainers’ application as it illustrates how one country, England in this instance, was successfully trained by the Yale BBF core team to implement BBF inside its borders and successfully disseminate it into neighbouring countries, that is, Scotland and Wales, following a capacity‐building approach with reference to implementation science (Kendall et al, 2022 ). In three countries in Great Britain, as in five other countries across five world regions, as expected (Buccini et al, 2019 ), BBF has been proven to be an effective tool for policymaking that can be adapted to diverse and contrasting contexts and needs, including diverse governmental and policy contexts.…”