Exploring strategies for integrating breastfeeding peer supporters in public hospitals in Kenya

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Acute malnutrition among infants aged under 6 months is a major public health problem. Recent reports indicate that globally, 8.5 million infants under 6 months suffer from moderate or severe acute malnutrition. Malnourished infants are significantly more likely to be hospitalized and die from treatable infectious diseases than non-malnourished infants. Studies have shown that the majority of these infants (up to 90%) are not exclusively breastfed, even though evidence suggests that exclusive breastfeeding is particularly important for recovery and survival among this group. To improve the nutritional status of hospitalized malnourished infants, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the re-establishment of exclusive breastfeeding. However, challenges such as shortages of appropriately trained health workers and lack of information on "how" exclusive breastfeeding can most effectively be re-established have hampered the effective implementation of these recommendations in many low-income settings, including Kenya. In Kenya, as elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, breastfeeding lay peer supporters (mothers from the local community trained in breastfeeding assistance) are used to promote and support exclusive breastfeeding among mothers of healthy infants in their communities. We are currently undertaking a study (IBAMI) in a hospital in Kenya investigating the maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding amongst infants recovering from acute malnutrition and infection after they have been discharged from hospital. We have introduced breastfeeding peer supporters in the hospital to help the health workers implement the WHO guidelines. With the support of study staff and funding, peer supporters have become a central part of the inpatient treatment management team undertaking tasks integral to the breastfeeding treatment plan. Our experiences from the IBAMI study suggest that breastfeeding lay peer supporters might be an effective strategy for enhancing the implementation of the WHO guidelines. However, the supportive financial and management conditions provided by the IBAMI study are unlikely to be repeated in resource constrained hospital settings in Kenya and routine implementation would involve introducing a new low skilled, as yet unrecognised cadre into complex, multi-professional hospital environments. To understand when, where and how breastfeeding peer supporters might be integrated into the routine treatment of inpatient malnourished infants, we propose to undertake a pilot study investigating the health system factors that are likely to enhance or constrain the use of breastfeeding peer supporters in the implementation the WHO guidelines for nutrition rehabilitation of inpatient infants under routine conditions in two public hospitals in Kenya. To gauge policy level interest in the approach, we will identify and engage with key policy makers at national and county levels in Kenya; determine their views on employing lay peer supporters in a hospital setting and discuss potential barriers and facilitators to implementation. To assess the feasibility of using breastfeeding peer supporters, we will collaborate with the Kilifi County Ministry of Health (MoH), to identify two hospitals and in each we will work with the hospital management team, frontline health workers, UNICEF and National MoH to develop and agree on a strategy for the implementation of a breastfeeding peer supporters' intervention. During strategy implementation, quarterly meetings to review progress and identify factors enhancing or constraining the integration process will be held. After 12 months, we will estimate the costs of implementing the strategy and hold review meetings and interviews in each of the two hospital to assess perceptions of its feasibility, acceptability and sustainability. The findings from this study will generate new knowledge to improve the hospital management and treatment of malnourished infants under 6 months.