Examination of breastfeeding knowledge and behavior of breastfeeding women during COVID-19 process

This study was conducted to examine the knowledge and behavior of breastfeeding women during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study consisted of women who applied to the Yozgat Bozok University Research and Application Hospital for any reason during the first 6 months of the postpartum period between 15.02.2021 and 31.08.2021 and continued to breastfeed their babies; The study was conducted with 382 people between the ages of 18-35 who accepted to participate in the study, were breastfeeding their babies, were not diagnosed with Covid-19. The data of the study were collected using the 'Patient Identification Form', 'Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES)', and 'Breastfeeding Information and Behavior Form in the Covid-19 Process'. Independent Sample T-test, One-Way Analysis of Variance, Mann Whitney U Test, Kruskal Wallis H test were used to evaluate the data. The significance level of the study was accepted as p<0.05. The mean BSES score of the women participating in the study was determined as 54.97± 10.14. It was determined that the mean BSES score of women who applied skin contact at birth and mothers who breastfed their baby in the first 30 minutes after birth were higher (p<0.05). 72.8% of the participants stated that they were afraid of giving birth during the pandemic process, and that the pandemic period affected the act of breastfeeding (31.7%) and 43.8% of the participants stated that they experienced uneasiness / decrease in breast milk in their babies due to stress and it was determined that 59.2% of the participants did not receive information about breastfeeding specific to the pandemic process. It was determined that obtaining information about breastfeeding in her current pregnancy and the frequency of breastfeeding did not affect the mean BSES score (p>0.05). However, it was determined that women who were informed about breastfeeding by midwives/nurses during the pandemic were higher than the other groups (p<0.001). As a result of this study; During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was determined that routine breastfeeding education did not affect the BSES, however, it was found that when process-specific breastfeeding training was received at the end of the birth, it increased the BSES score. For this reason, mothers should be supported by providing process-specific trainings on breast milk and breastfeeding for the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding after birth. Keywords: Covid-19, Breastfeeding, Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy, Nursing, Breast milk