The effect of the COVİD 19 pandemic on breastfeeding status of mothers

This study was conducted as a descriptive study to evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic process on the breastfeeding status of mothers with 0-24 month old babies. The research was conducted between December 2021 and May 2022 in Ankara City Hospital, Maternal Support Breastfeeding/Relactation Outpatient Clinic and Mother-Baby Adaptation Service. A sample of 511 mothers who applied to the clinics specified on the dates of the study and accepted the study and met the research criteria were formed. Research data were collected with the Descriptive Data Form. It was determined that the mean age of the mothers was 28±4.7 (18-44), 54.41% of them had a university education and 51.66% of them gave birth by cesarean section. It was determined that 13.0% (n=66) of mothers had problems with breastfeeding during the pandemic period and all mothers who had problems hesitated to go to the hospital. 12.14% of the mothers had COVID-19 during pregnancy, 76.13% after birth, 69.70% of the mothers who had COVID-19 did not continue to breastfeed; It was determined that 28.79% of mothers who continued to breastfeed had anxiety while breastfeeding. 57.6% of the mothers stated that they did not receive information about how to breastfeed during COVID-19, and 17.50% stated that they had problems with breastfeeding after quarantine. It was determined that 48.7% of the mothers breastfed their babies while they were in the hospital due to COVID-19, 41.0% were fed with expressed breast milk and formula, and 10.3% were only fed with formula. It has been observed that mothers need breastfeeding counseling during the pandemic process. Keywords: Pandemic, Breastfeeding, Breast milk