The relationship between mothers' infant feeding methods and maternal satisfaction and burnout status

The Relationship Between Mothers' Infant Feeding Methods and Maternal Satisfaction and Burnout Status INTRODUCTION & AIM: This study aims to analyze the relationship between infant feeding methods and maternal satisfaction and burnout in mothers with infants aged 1-12 months. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The research sample comprised mothers applying to Pediatric Polyclinics of Istanbul Tuzla Public Hospital in Turkey, meeting the criteria to be included in the research, and volunteering to participate in the study. The research data were collected with the Mother& Infant Information Form, the 13-Item Being a Mother Scale (BaM-13), and the Maternal Burnout Scale. The data were analyzed with the IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 23.0. FINDINGS: It was discerned that, of all participant mothers, 55.5% were aged 26-35 years, 27.5% were aged 18-26 years, and 17% were aged 36 years or above. It was found that, of all mothers, 41.7% fed their infants with breast milk, 55% started to feed the infant with supplementary food after six months and 84.9% received no support about infant care. A statistically significant relationship was identified between mothers' infant feeding methods and BaM-13 Experience of Child Sub-Scale scores (F/p=3.439/0.034, p<0.05). As per the examination of the relationship between mothers' Maternal Burnout Scale scores and infant feeding methods, no statistically significant relationship was found (F/p= 1.598/0.205, p>0.05). A statistically significant negative relationship was identified between mothers' Being a Mother Scale and Maternal Burnout Scale scores (r=0.533, p=0.000). CONCLUSION: No relationship was found between mothers' infant feeding methods and maternal burnout. Mothers' maternal burnout increases as their satisfaction with being a mother increases. Keywords: Infant Aged 1-12 Months, Infant Feeding, Maternal Satisfaction, Maternal Burnout