Cultural and linguistic appropriateness of a web-based breastfeeding educational resource for Saudi women: Consensus development conference approach

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the content, images and layout of the web-based breastfeeding educational resource for Saudi women using a consensus development approach. Background: Although the World Health Organization highly recommends exclusive breastfeeding, there is a decline in breastfeeding rates in Saudi Arabia, especially during hospital stay. The combining of health professional support with e-technology tools has been proposed as a method to increase exclusive breastfeeding. However, the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of an e-technology-based approach has not been explored in Saudi women. Methods: After developing a content draft of the web-based breastfeeding educational resource specific to Saudi culture, an online consensus development conference was organised with ten participants including two university researchers and eight health care providers to investigate the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the educational content. The participants from Saudi Arabia were Saudi mothers who had breastfeeding experiences and were key maternity health professionals employed at the Maternity and Children Hospital of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The SQUIRE checklist was used in the reporting of this study. Results: Feedback received prior to the meeting showed that 81% of the content was acceptable and minor changes were required. Changes were made to the content based on the suggestions and feedback received. The consensus group accepted all the changes and the content was finalised. Conclusions: The online consensus development conference was found to be a very convenient way to decide on the cultural and linguistic appropriateness of the content of the web-based breastfeeding educational resource allowing the participation of experts from different countries; this was considered a critical step in ensuring the successful implementation of the intervention.