UCC awarded €2.5m to lead international breastfeeding research

UCC has been awarded €2.5m from the Health Research Board (HRB) to lead a major international study about breastfeeding.

The first-of-its-kind study will investigate and influence a cultural shift towards valuing breastfeeding as one of the most effective ways to ensure child and maternal health.

Led by the UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery, the study aims to influence sustainable changes to protect, promote, and support breastfeeding, and investigate the barriers that prevent women from breastfeeding.

Ireland has the lowest breastfeeding initiation rate amongst high-income OECD countries, and is ranked 10th in Europe and 57th in the world.

UCC researchers will collaborate with women, healthcare professionals, healthcare systems and community groups to prioritise women-centred breastfeeding care and support from pregnancy, aiming to improve the breastfeeding education, training, and skills of healthcare professionals.

Patricia Leahy-Warren, Professor of Nursing and Chair of Health Services Research and Head of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at UCC, who will lead the study, said: “Breastfeeding is not the sole responsibility of women, but society’s collective responsibility. The study has the potential to have wide-reaching impact not just across the island of Ireland but beyond, through sharing and translating knowledge on how to tackle a perpetual public health issue of global importance.”

The study is one of three UCC projects awarded a combined €7.5 million funding under the Applied Programme Awards from the Health Research Board.

Dr Pauline Frizelle, senior lecturer at the School of Clinical Therapies, has received funding to investigate problems children experience with language and communication, while Professor Deirdre Bennett, Head of Medical Education Unit, has received funding for research exploring the skills healthcare professionals need to develop in relation to climate change and sustainability.