“From Two Different Simulation Methods to Clinical Experience”: Effect of Different Teaching Strategies on Midwifery Students' Breastfeeding Teaching Skills, Satisfaction, and Self-confidence

BACKGROUND: Teaching and managing breastfeeding is a fundamental competency of midwifery care. OBJECTIVE: This study compared high-fidelity simulation (SimMom) and standardized patient (SP) training in improving midwifery students' breastfeeding teaching skills, satisfaction, and self-confidence, and evaluated how effectively these skills were applied in real clinical settings. METHODS: In this prospective randomized study, 80 third- and fourth-year midwifery students in Türkiye were assigned to SimMom (n = 40) or SP (n = 40) after a theoretical breastfeeding course using a computer-generated randomization sequence. Breastfeeding teaching skills were evaluated during simulation and clinical practice using the Breastfeeding Teaching Skills Assessment Form by researchers. Student satisfaction and self-confidence were self-reported after each session. RESULTS: During simulation, the SP group demonstrated higher breastfeeding teaching skills than the SimMom group (86.5 ± 6.8 vs. 51.2 ± 12.4; P < .001). In clinical practice, the SimMom group showed significant improvement compared with their simulation baseline (51.2-71.1; P < .001), whereas the SP group showed a significant decrease (86.5-68.2; P < .001). No significant difference was found between groups in clinical teaching skills (P = .476). Although satisfaction was higher in the SP group after simulation (P = .004), this difference was not sustained after clinical practice (P = .128), whereas self-confidence remained consistently higher in the SP group both after simulation (P = .005) and after clinical application (P = .001). CONCLUSION: SP training enhances communication-related outcomes such as satisfaction and self-confidence, whereas SimMom training seems to better support the application of technical breastfeeding teaching skills in clinical practice.