An investigation of the relationship between mother’s personality traits, breastfeeding self-efficacy, and perception of insufficient milk supply

Abstract

The researchers planned this study as a descriptive-correlational study to determine the relationship between mothers’ personality traits, breastfeeding self-efficacy, and perception of insufficient milk supply. This descriptive, cross-sectional, and analytical study involved 429 mothers in Turkey's Sakarya province who applied to a training and research hospital between February-June 2020. It was found that self-control and openness to development affected breastfeeding self-efficacy positively, while neuroticism affected breastfeeding self-efficacy negatively (p < 0.05). Breastfeeding self-efficacy had a significant negative effect on the perception of insufficient milk supply (p < 0.001). Breastfeeding self-efficacy is an important determinant of the amount of milk perceived by mothers.