Storytelling as a Teaching Approach for Breastfeeding Education

Providing education on breastfeeding to women and their families can be nuanced as a nurse navigates through identifying their questions, ideas, and knowledge gaps. Storytelling as a teaching method may offer a valuable means of communication between a nurse and the person for whom she is providing care. In this article, we reflect on the concept of storytelling for breastfeeding education via an author-generated approach. Three components are identified for the practice of teaching by storytelling: (a) asking for the person's story, (b) genuinely listening to the story, and (c) responding by storytelling. These three components can be operationalized through a seven-step process that includes welcoming, creating the opening, listening, considering, developing the story, telling the story, and being brave. Storytelling as a teaching modality may facilitate a learner's absorption of information.