Investigation of the effects of mothers' perceptions related to breast milk and breastfeeding self-efficacy on infant feeding attitude

This study was planned to examine the effects of mothers' breast milk perceptions and breastfeeding self-efficacy on infant feeding attitudes. Number of 106 volunteer mothers (mean age 30.4±5.36 years) living in Ankara and having babies ages between 0-24 months participated in the study. In the questionnaire prepared by the researcher, questions containing general information and Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IOWA), Breast Milk Perception Scale for Adults (BPSA), Postpartum Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES) were applied to the mothers by face to face interview technique. More than half of the mothers (65.1%) breastfed within the first hour, 71.8% of them exclusive breastfed for the first 6 months. Mean breastfeeding duration of the mothers was 9.61±7.50 months. The mean scores of the IOWA, BSES, and BPSA were 69±5.30, 62.37±8.69, 125.43±27.88, respectively. Mothers who are predisposed to breast-feeding had higher scores on BSES (PB: 66.56±3.57, UD: 58.90±10.07), BPSA (PB:136.08±22.83, UD:116.62±28.77) compared to undecided mothers (p<0.05). A positive correlation was found between IOWA and the BSES and BPSA, and a negative correlation was found between the PBQ (p<0.05). An increase of 1 point each in the BSES and BPSA scores leads to an increase of 0.223 and 0.086 points in the IOWA, respectively. The BPSA has a partial mediator role in the relationship between the BSES and the IOWA (B=0.087, SE=0.038, %95 BCa CI=[0.0317,0.01789]; p<0.05). In the resulting modeling, 33.9% of the variance in the infant feeding attitude is explained. The results of the study show that as mothers' perception of breast milk and breastfeeding self-efficacy increase, the tendency to be prone to breastfeeding in infant feeding attitude increases. Hence evaluating innovative practices that encourage breast milk and breastfeeding, it will be useful to plan trainings on this subject.