Going live: free lactation care resource for medical practitioners
We wanted to alert you and your readers to a new, free-of-charge online lactation care support system for medical practitioners – LactaMap – we developed in partnership with The University of Western Australia.
The clinical resource offers a wealth of current, evidence-based information that practitioners can consult at the point of care for immediate help in resolving lactation challenges presented by breastfeeding mothers and their infants.
LactaMap will go live on 26 March 2019, at 14:00 CET. We hope you’ll have the opportunity to join us at that time for a 1.5-hour launch call led by the Breastfeeding Innovations Team, a global network of over 400 individuals focused on advancing innovative technologies in support of breastfeeding and breastmilk. Dial-in details can be found here.
You can find further information about LactaMap on our website and in the news release attached. Thank you for sharing the news about LactaMap, and supporting the practitioners who are supporting breastfeeding mothers!
Please contact us with any questions.
With best regards,
Cassandra Petrakis Zwahlen
Joint news release: The Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation and The University of Western Australia
The Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation and The University of Western Australia launch LactaMap: a free, online lactation care support system for medical practitioners worldwide
Frauenfeld, Switzerland and Perth, Australia, 26 March 2019 – The Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation (FLRF) and The University of Western Australia (UWA) have just released a new clinical tool to help medical practitioners resolve lactation challenges and support breastfeeding mothers: LactaMap (www.LactaMap.com). Featuring content developed by UWA, the online resource offers a wealth of evidence-based information to advance understanding of human lactation, ensure consistent care for breastfeeding mothers and their infants, and prevent dissemination of conflicting advice.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends mothers exclusively breastfeed infants for the first six months to achieve optimal growth, development and health.[1] Unfortunately, according to the WHO, only 38% of infants aged zero to six months are exclusively breastfed.[2] Research published in the 2016 Lancet Series for Breastfeeding shows medical practitioners can play an important role in supporting breastfeeding mothers.[3],[4] Nevertheless, medical practitioners at all levels report they are not receiving the education needed to support the knowledge and skills required to do so.[5],[6]
LactaMap aims to help fill these gaps. With a grant of over AUD 1 million from FLRF, LactaMap content was researched and developed by the LactaResearch Group at UWA under the leadership of Senior Research Fellow Melinda Boss and Emeritus Professor Peter Hartmann. The clinical tool functions as a decision support system, helping practitioners rapidly navigate its wealth of information with an intuitive care pathway to appropriate, evidence-based clinical information for their patients. LactaMap is free of charge and available to medical practitioners in any country.
“Lactation completes the reproductive cycle. Yet when difficulties occur, there generally is no medical doctor specialised in lactating breasts that a breastfeeding mother can turn to for help – unlike for difficulties with other major organs,” says Boss. “As an online tool that allows translation of new research into practice soon after publication, LactaMap aims to change that.”
LactaMap contains over 100 evidence-based clinical practice guidelines, LactaPedia (a glossary of lactation for science and medicine) and 21 information sheets that can be printed or e-mailed to patients.
“LactaMap provides relevant, state-of-the-art clinical practice guidelines with medical care plan options, as well as a framework defining normality to assist medical practitioners in decision-making for patients with lactation concerns,” says Dr Katharina Lichtner, Managing Director, Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation. “Online and soon also available as an app, LactaMap is a real-time, border-free resource for point-of-care consultations with patients.”
“We are delighted to have joined UWA on another fruitful project, one that follows and builds on LactaPedia,” says Göran Larsson, Chairman of the Board, Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation. “It’s heartening to be involved in the creation of this important evidence-based clinical resource. As it evolves, we anticipate LactaMap will serve not only practicing professionals, but those in training as well.”
LactaMap is being evaluated for further development as a case-based learning tool for teaching at medical and healthcare schools. With its ability to answer specific questions and support resolution of lactation and breastfeeding difficulties for mothers and infants, LactaMap has the potential to become a widely used resource that can contribute to the global increase in breastfeeding rates.
LactaMap has been appraised against the Agree II Instrument, the international gold standard for practice guidelines evaluation and development, and is now online: www.LactaMap.com
[1] https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2011/breastfeeding_20110115/en/
[2] https://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/globaltargets2025_policybrief_breastfeeding/en/
[3] Rollins N et al. Why invest, and what it will take to improve breastfeeding practices? Lancet Series 2016, 387: 491–504.
[4] Labbok M, Taylor E. Achieving exclusive breastfeeding in the United States: findings and recommendations. Washington, DC: United States Breastfeeding Committee, 2008. http://www.usbreastfeeding.org/d/do/482
[5] McAllister H, Bradshaw S, Ross-Adjie G. A study of in-hospital midwifery practices that affect breastfeeding outcomes. Breastfeed Rev 2009; 17: 11–15.
[6] Leviniene G et al. The evaluation of knowledge and activities of primary health care professionals in promoting breast-feeding. Medicina 2009; 45: 238–47.
Contacts
Cassandra Petrakis Zwahlen, Head Communications, Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation, Phone: +41 (0) 41 510 05 15, Email: petrakis.zwahlen@larsson-rosenquist.org
Melinda Boss, Senior Research Fellow, The University of Western Australia, Phone: +61 8 64883324, Email: melinda.boss@uwa.edu.au
About the Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation
The Family Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation is one of the first foundations in the world with a prime focus on promoting and supporting breastmilk and breastfeeding. Based in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, it was founded in 2013 with the aim of promoting the scientific and public recognition of breastfeeding and breastmilk as – given the current state of science – the best nutrition for newborns and infants. It considers itself as an instigator and promoter of new knowledge. The Foundation invests globally in projects and scientific research in breastfeeding and breastmilk. It places high value on multidisciplinary collaboration and supports projects with a sustainable impact on the well-being of mother and child.
About The University of Western Australia
The University of Western Australia is one of Australia’s leading universities, with an international reputation for excellence in teaching, research and community engagement. Already ranked among the top 100 universities in the world, UWA aims to be counted in the top 50 by 2050. UWA is a member of the prestigious Group of Eight, a coalition of leading research-driven Australian universities. Its strong research culture attracts outstanding staff and high levels of competitive research funding. For more than a century, UWA’s talented researchers have produced quality outcomes that have contributed substantially to the social, cultural and economic development of Australia, and the university continues to play a vital role in scholarship and discoveries of global significance.
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