The effect of breastfeeding training on exclusive breastfeeding: a randomized controlled trial
Abstract Introduction Although exclusive breastfeeding is very beneficial for children's and mothers' health, a limited number of infants are exclusively breastfed for 6 months. Aim This randomized controlled intervention study aims to determine the effect of breastfeeding training on mothers' knowledge, behaviors, and exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months. Materials and methods The participants were selected randomly for training (n 60) and control groups (n 60) among the pregnant women admitted to the obstetrics and gynecology polyclinics of a baby friendly hospital. The training group received breastfeeding training during the prenatal and postnatal periods. The data were collected using a questionnaire during admission and at the postpartum 1st and 24th weeks through face to face interviews. The study was completed with 34 and 30 mother infant pairs in the training and control groups, respectively. Analyzed using the chi square, Student t, Mann Whitney U, and Wilcoxon t tests. Results The difference between the number of correct answers in pre and posttest was higher in the training group (four questions) than in the control group (two questions) (p .001) The number of mothers exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months was significantly higher in the training group (26.5% than in the control group (3.3% (p .015) The median of the exclusive breastfeeding period was longer in the training group (5 months) than in the control group (4 months) (p .013) Conclusion Training and supporting pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers on breastfeeding increased their knowledge, the period of exclusive breastfeeding, and the rate of 6 month exclusive breastfeeding.
The journal of maternal fetal neonatal medicine the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians