Fathers' attitudes towards breastfeeding, their participation in the breastfeeding process and the factors affecting them

Objective: This research has been carried out to determine fathers' attitudes towards breastfeeding, their participation in the breastfeeding process and the factors affecting them. Materials and Methods: The research has been carried out analytically and cross-sectionally, between December 2019 and May 2021, with the participation of 220 fathers in Zonguldak Gynecology and Childhood Hospital. Introductory information form, fathers' breastfeeding attitude and participation scale were used in the collection of the data. Descriptive statistics, Student-t test, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis and Bonferroni tests were used in the evaluation of the data. In addition, pearson correlation, cronbach's alpha coefficient, one-way variance and multivariate linear regression analyzes were performed. Results: In the research, fathers' attitudes towards breastfeeding, their participation in the breastfeeding process and the factors affecting them have been determined. The fathers who participated in the study were 34.82±5.24 years old, and the mean attitude score towards breastfeeding was 56.24±5.82, and the mean score of participation in breastfeeding process was 56.85±7.10. In the multivariate linear regression analysis, the fathers' attitude score towards breastfeeding is affected by education level, father's approval of his mother's participation in the breastfeeding process (F=3,324, R2 adj=0,050, p=0,007), and fathers' participation score in the breastfeeding process is affected by the type of family, the number of breastfeeding experiences, the gender of the last baby with whom the breastfeeding process is experienced, and the state of obtaining information about breast milk and breastfeeding (F=11,304, R 2 adj=0,158, p<0,001). Conclusion: The fathers participating in this research have a negative attitude towards breastfeeding and their participation in the breastfeeding process is weak. Fathers' attitudes towards breastfeeding and their participation in the breastfeeding process are affected by some socio-demographic and cultural factors. Knowing these characteristics of fathers will make an important contribution to midwives and nurses in deciding how a way to follow in providing spousal support in breastfeeding and increasing breastfeeding rates. Keywords: Attitudes, Breastfeeding, Fathers, Participation, Role