This study was designed to evaluate the breastfeeding knowledge among different discipline of health professionals nationwide. From July 2002 to October 2002, Society of Neonatology, R.O.C. held six one-day seminars on the topic of breastfeeding in four districts in Taiwan. One thousand one hundred and fifty-two professionals attended these conferences. A questionnaire of twenty breastfeeding questions was distributed and collected before the conference then the result was analyzed. Eight hundred seventy three of them (83%) fulfilled the questionnaire. Five hundred thirty five of them (61.3%) were clinical nurses, 252 (28.9%) were public health nurses, 49 (5.6%) were physicians and 37 (4.2%) were other paramedical professionals. The average knowledge score were 78.6 (full score 100). A question about counseling got the worst correct answer rate (29.8%). Participants from northern part of Taiwan, having occupation as clinical nurses or physicians, having attended in-service education, working in level III and II hospitals showed positive relationship with the knowledge score.
Conclusion: We suggested that when conducting breastfeeding promotion programs, we have to look at districts disparity. Education should include not only the information but also the counseling skills to support breastfeeding mothers.