The effects of mothers socio-demographic and psychopathological characteristics on the exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months in Adana, Çukurova

Purpose: Breastmilk is a very important food for healthy growth and development. The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months. The aim of this study is to investigate the socio-demographic characteristics and psychopathologic features of Adana's mothers living in Cukurova province and to investigate the effect of these characteristics on exclusive breastfeeding status for the first 6 months. Materials and Methods: This is a cross sectional study. 284 randomly selected women were reached in the study, between November 2015-February 2016. In order to collect data, a 27-question questionnaire consisting of 53 questions and a Brief Symptom Inventory were applied to determine the socio-demographic and psychopathological characteristics of women. As for the statistical evaluation, the packaged software SPSS 19 for Windows was used. For the statistical analysis frequency tables, chi square test, Mann-Whitney U test, ANOVA test and Multiple logistic regression analysis were used. Results: 37.0% of the mothers gave exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months. Those who graduated from high school and upper school for women, those who were educated in breastfeeding during pregnancy, those who breastfed for the first half hour after birth, and those who did not work had a significantly higher rate of giving only breast milk for the first 6 months. However, the rate of breastfeeding in the first 6 months was significantly lower for those who have had a baby disease from women, those who were separated from their babies, those who lived in the same household as their elders, or those who were affected by the feeding of infants from family elders, smokers, and breast problems. The mean scores of somatization, obsessive compulsive disorder, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety disorder, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid thought, psychotism were significantly higher in mothers who did not give breast milk only during the first 6 months. Conclusion: Exclusive breastfeeding rate was 37% in the first 6 months of our study. Postpartum period for women is a very sensitive period with an increased risk of psychiatric discomfort.