Effect of family integrated care on breastfeeding of preterm infants: A scoping review

AIMS: The aims are to describe the key components of family integrated care intervention for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and assess the impact on breastfeeding outcomes for those infants. DESIGN: A scoping review. METHODS: We conducted a systematic study search based on the databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, Web of Science, MEDLINE, CINAHL, CNKI and Wanfang Database in December 2022. The search time ranged from database establishment to 31 December 2022. Papers by manual searching were also listed on the references. We adopted Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewer's Manual methodology and followed the PRISMA guidelines for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA‐ScR) to conduct the review. Two independent reviewers filtered the papers, extracted data and synthesized the findings. A table was used to extract data and synthesize results. RESULTS: After systematic searching, 11 articles that implemented family integrated care (FIcare) were finally included in this scoping review. By analysing the implementation of this nursing model, we identified seven main components: NICU staff training, parent education, parent participation in infants' care, parent involvement in medical plans, peer support, NICU environmental support and mobile app for parents. Based on the extracted breastfeeding data, this scoping review concludes that family integrated care shows a positive effect on increasing breastfeeding rates at discharge. Through this scoping review, we find that family integrated care is feasible and it can support breastfeeding of preterm infants. Further studies will be needed to provide more evidence that family integrated care could facilitate breastfeeding of preterm infants. IMPACT: This scoping review provides evidence for the positive role of family integrated care on breastfeeding outcomes. The analysis may contribute to the implementation of family integrated care. NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No further public or patient contribution was made in view of the review‐based nature of the research.