Abstract
Extensive research confirms the nutritional, economic, biomedical, immunological, and psychological advantages of breast milk. Despite the clear benefits of breastfeeding to mother and infant, breastfeeding rates today continue to remain below the recommended levels in the United States, most notably among low-income mothers. One factor that plays a role in breast-feeding success and may be modifiable by nursing intervention is maternal self-efficacy. This study aimed to increase the breast-feeding du-ration through an intervention based on Den-nis’s Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Theory. A quasi-Experimental design was used to test the effect of the intervention program on duration of breastfeeding. A convenience sample of 37 low-income women was recruited from two rural pre-natal clinics in the Midwest. Data were collected using the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES) and a demographic profile. Women were con-tacted by telephone at two and six weeks post-partum to determine if they were still breast-feeding and to complete the BSES. The women who were assigned to a breast-feeding self-efficacy intervention showed significantly greater increases in breast-feeding duration and self-efficacy than did the women in the control group. The results of this study suggest that the one-hour of breastfeeding intervention program during the prenatal period may increase the duration of breastfeeding in low-income women who intend to breastfeed. This study supports the literature which found that prenatal education and postpartum support are important to the out-come of breastfeeding.
Highlights
Breastfeeding has long been recognized as the preferred method of feeding in the first year of life [1]
The results of this study suggest that the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Intervention Program (BSEIP), which incorporated the four principle sources of information from the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Theory, contributed to an increase in the mothers’ breastfeeding self-efficacy that was sustained over time, and increased breastfeeding duration
Breastfeeding mothers who received the intervention felt more confident in their ability to breastfeed than mothers who did not receive the intervention program
Summary
Breastfeeding has long been recognized as the preferred method of feeding in the first year of life [1]. Extensive research confirms the nutritional, economic, biomedical, immunological, and psychological advantages of breast milk. Despite the clear benefits of breastfeeding to mother and infant, breastfeeding rates today continue to remain below the recommendation levels in the United States (US), most notably among low-income mothers. The decline of breastfeeding in the United States has been most marked among low-income women. It is reported that 38.9% of low-income women initiate breastfeeding in the hospital compared to 66.1% of women from middleand high-income groups [2]. In addition; rates of exclusive breastfeeding are even lower in low-income populations, minority/racial groups, and adolescents [3]
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