{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T14:41:23Z","timestamp":1787755283492,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787702400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pediatr."],"abstract":"\n Background<\/jats:title>\n Although breastfeeding is widely encouraged, there are gaps between the knowledge and practice of good breastfeeding outcomes. Specifically, nurses' breastfeeding knowledge, skills and communication competency may be suboptimal. Competency-based, evidence-based interventions may address this issue; but their effectiveness is poorly understood.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objective<\/jats:title>\n To examine whether implementation of an evidence-based, core competency program was associated with changes in breastfeeding counselling practices among obstetric nurses and selected maternal breastfeeding outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n This was a pre- and post-intervention study in a tertiary hospital. Evidence was searched from global guidelines and the literature, rated using tools, and translated into a competency framework based on the Knowledge-to-Action model. Nursing staff were provided with a tailored intervention program involving theoretical training, simulated skill practice, adoption of a standardized protocol and ongoing supervision. Practitioner, patient and system-level outcome indicators, including breastfeeding counseling skills, knowledge, skills, mother's breastfeeding ability and exclusive breastfeeding rates, were measured pre and post-intervention. The assessment was done through observation and checklists and descriptive and comparative statistics were used to analyse the data.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n During the post-intervention assessment period, higher values were observed for all predefined practice indicators. Mothers receiving \u22656 counselling sessions increased from 22.0% to 88.0%, nurse training participation increased from 45.5% to 100.0%, effective breast-problem management increased from 70.0% to 100.0%, and exclusive breastfeeding during hospitalization increased from 26.0% to 50.0%. Maternal breastfeeding ability was reported as an ordinal outcome, with high ability increasing from 38.0% to 88.0%. Nurses' counselling competence scores increased descriptively from 102.09\u2009\u00b1\u200910.25 to 117.91\u2009\u00b1\u20098.62. These findings indicated that the implementation period was associated with higher observed knowledge, skills, and protocol-compliance indicators.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n The findings suggested that a structured, competency-based, evidence-informed intervention may improve breastfeeding counselling competence among obstetric nurses and may support better maternal breastfeeding outcomes during hospitalization. However, because this was a single-center pre- and post-intervention study with a small sample and short follow-up, further controlled multicenter studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness and sustainability of the intervention.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fped.2026.1886382","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T13:40:36Z","timestamp":1787751636000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Research on the effect of evidence-based practice based on core competencies on improving breastfeeding counseling skills of obstetric nurses"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Yueping","family":"Ma","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University","place":["Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ying","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University","place":["Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xueqin","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University","place":["Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","volume-title":"Action Plan for Promoting Breastfeeding (2021\u20132025)","year":"2021"},{"key":"B2","volume-title":"Breastfeeding: Promoting and Supporting the Initiation, Exclusivity, and Continuation of Breastfeeding for Newborns, Infants, and Young Children","year":"2018"},{"key":"B3","volume-title":"Development of a Core Competency Indicator System for Breastfeeding Counselling Nurses in China","author":"Deng","year":"2023"},{"key":"B4","volume-title":"Guideline: Counselling of Women to Improve Breastfeeding Practices","year":"2018"},{"key":"B5","first-page":"261","article-title":"Guideline for promoting breastfeeding strategies (2018 edition)","volume":"56","year":"2018","journal-title":"Chin J Pediatr"},{"key":"B6","volume-title":". 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