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A unique breastfeeding clinic in Galway designed to support mothers who are having difficulty breastfeeding has won two Irish Healthcare Centre Awards.
The ‘Well Baby Breastfeeding Clinic’ in Galway won Best Community Outpatient Initiative of the year and Clinical Team of the year at an awards ceremony in May.
The clinic, the first of its kind in Ireland, is a collaboration between the Maternity Department at UHG and the Department of Public Health Nursing, Community Healthcare West.
It is designed to support mothers who are having difficulty breastfeeding in the early weeks of their breastfeeding journey, whereas before they had to present to the emergency departent.
Dr Ethel Ryan, Consultant Neonatologist and Paediatrician at UHG, and one of the initiators of the Well Baby Breastfeeding Clinic, said: “Breastfeeding is a learned skill acquired through education, observation and experience.
“While it is the most natural way to feed babies, breastfeeding issues in the early weeks tend to be time sensitive.
“At our Shantalla clinic here in Galway, we currently see infants born at University Hospital Galway and all clinic referrals come through either the postnatal ward at UHG or your local Public Health Nurse.”
The first Well Baby Breastfeeding Clinic was held in December 2021 and saw 270 patients in the first year of service.
Dr Ryan said that this represented 10% of all infants born at University Hospital Galway in 2022.
“A second clinic per week was added in January 2023 as a result of increased demand for the service.”
Dr Sinéad Gavin, GP and Clinical Lead for the clinic, said: “By identifying and addressing feeding issues as early as possible, it facilitates improved breastfeeding outcomes and therefore we aim to see all mothers and their infants in the same week of referral where possible.”
The clinic identifies breastfeeding issues such as latching and positioning issues, low milk supply, tongue tie, poor or slow weight gain, excess wind, cracked nipples, mastitis and over supply of milk.
Each mother and baby receives a 45-minute appointment which includes a comprehensive history assessment, a breastfeeding evaluation, infant oral assessment and a personalised treatment plan. Tongue tie release procedure is also performed, if required.
An independent audit of the clinic reviewed 40 patient files which demonstrated 57% of mothers were exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months. This compares to a national average of just 23% for the same time period.
Post clinic reviews saw that 97.5% of mothers reported that their breastfeeding issues had been resolved and therefore did not require acute hospital care.
Speaking about the expansion of the clinic, Dr Ethel Ryan said they are looking to expand the service to all Galway mothers and their newborn infants with the goal of eventually extending the clinic to other maternity units within Saolta.
“We are delighted to be collaborating on this project with our colleagues from University Hospital Galway and look forward to the next step in developing and expanding the service further,” said Helen Martin, Director of Public Health Nursing, Community Healthcare West.
“This project supports the government’s Enhanced Community Care Programme (ECC) by improving and expanding community health services and reducing pressure on hospital services.”
