Participant information & consent

How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting decisions about breastfeeding?

Thank you for considering participating in this study.

Please read the Participant Information Form, and the Participant Consent Form below.

If you are happy to participate in this study, which involves completing a monthly 15 minute survey for 6 months, please give your consent.

We also ask that you enter your email address at this time, so you can receive the future monthy surveys.

We greatly appreciate you taking the time to complete the survey.

If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact the Human Lactation Research Group on [email protected]

Thank you!

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D-M-Y

	Dr Donna Geddes School of Molecular Science, M310 The University of Western Australia 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009 +61 8 6488 7006 [email protected]

Online Survey Participation Form

How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting decisions about breastfeeding?

Names of Researchers:
Professor Donna Geddes, Dr Sharon Perrella

Invitation:
You are invited to participate in a project that endeavors to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting breastfeeding women and their breastfeeding decisions. You are asked to take part in this project because you are breastfeeding a baby between 0 and 6 months old.

Aim of the Study (What is the project about?)
The aims of the is project are to explore whether factors such as stress, anxiety and wellbeing during this pandemic period affect or impact decisions around breastfeeding. We wish to understand the unique issues faced by breastfeeding women during this time to enable us to develop targeted support for women and their families.

What does participation involve?
We would like you to complete a suite of surveys that are designed to assess wellbeing and feeding patterns. The surveys can be done online and should take no more than 15-20 minutes. In recognition that circumstances are changing rapidly we would like you to fill out the surveys once a months for up to 6 months. All surveys will be anonymous.

Voluntary Participation and Withdrawal from the Study
You can withdraw from the study at any time, without giving an explanation however we will not be able to remove your data as it will not be able to be identified.

Your privacy
As we mentioned the surveys will be anonymous. The data will be stored on secure servers at The University of Western Australia and only approved researchers will be able to access data for statistical analysis. We anticipate that we will present these data in oral and poster presentations at conferences and the results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. The data will be kept in a non-identifiable format on the secure server for minimum seven years.

Possible Benefits
We hope your participation in this study will lead to the development of support services that will benefit breastfeeding women in the future.

Possible Risks and Risk Management Plan
There are no anticipated risks with your participation in this research however if you have been affected by COVID-19, or feel that you require extra support in any way, please seek the help of your family doctor, a certified counsellor, or local support services. Your family doctor will be able to advise you of appropriate counsellors and support services in your location.

Contacts
If you would like to participate or discuss any aspect of this study please feel free to contact Professor Geddes on (work) Ph +61 8 6488 7006 or email [email protected]

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Approval to conduct this research has been provided by the University of Western Australia (RA/4/20/6286), in accordance with its ethics review and approval procedures. Any person considering participation in this research project, or agreeing to participate, may raise any questions or issues with the researchers at any time. In addition, any person not satisfied with the response of researchers may raise ethics issues or concerns, and may make any complaints about this research project by contacting the Human Ethics office at UWA on (08) 6488 4703 or by emailing to [email protected]; All research participants are entitled to retain a copy of any Participant Information Form and/or Participant Consent Form relating to this research project.

Consent Statement
I have read the information provided and any questions I have asked have been answered to my satisfaction. I agree to participate in this research project, realizing that I may withdraw at any time without reason and without prejudice.

I understand that all identifiable information that I provide is treated as confidential and will not be released by the investigator in any form that may identify me unless I have consented to this. The only exception to this principle of confidentiality is if this information is required by law to be released.

I agree to participate in this research project and I understand that withdrawal is not possible once data is submitted.

Please enter your email address
(To receive the monthly survey in future)

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