OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the educational intervention aiming to train community health visitors to promote and support maternal breastfeeding. METHODS: a study of the process of improving the intervention, comparing the knowledge and practices of 54 agents, before and two months after the training. Four theoretical and practical workshops were carried out based on the principles of Critical-Reflective Education and two training courses were run for the maternity teams. The results were expressed in terms of the differences in mean scores for knowledge, practices and the total, with statistical significance set at p<0.05. RESULTS: there was an increase in the mean score for knowledge (from 21.0 to 26.6; p<0.001) and in the scores for particular items of knowledge classified as good (from 37.0% to 88.8%, p<0.001). There were no changes in the score for participation of health visitors as groups in specific health actions. The effect of the intervention most frequently cited by the health visitors themselves was "feeling more accepted and better prepared to participate in the multiprofessional team in situations involving childcare". More than half reported an improvement in the quality and quantity of the advice they were able to dispense during home visits. CONCLUSIONS: the intervention has a positive effect on the knowledge and practices of health visitors dealing with families but does not give rise to an increase in their participation in specific health actions.
Breastfeeding; Community health agent; In-service training; Intervention studies
