Association between duration of exclusive breastfeeding and nursing mothers’ self-efficacy for breastfeeding

• Autor(a) principal: Moraes,Gécica Gracieli Wust de
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Christoffel,Marialda Moreira, Toso,Beatriz Rosana Gonçalves de Oliveira, Viera,Cláudia Silveira
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0080-62342021000100427
• topic: Breast Feeding; Self Efficacy; Continuity of Patient Care; Maternal-Child Nursing

ABSTRACT Objective: To verify the association of nursing mothers’ self-efficacy for breastfeeding in the immediate postpartum period and six months after birth and obstetric and sociodemographic variables with the duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Method: Observational, longitudinal, prospective study which followed nursing mothers from the immediate postpartum period to the sixth month postpartum in a municipality in Southern Brazil. For data collection, a questionnaire with sociodemographic and obstetric variables and the scale Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale - short form - were employed in the maternity ward and six months after birth. Inferential and descriptive statistics were employed. Results: A total of 158 nursing mothers have participated. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in the sixth month was 36.70%, out of which 77.34% have presented a high self-efficacy score. Sociodemographic factors had a negative impact on exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: High levels of self-efficacy favor exclusive breastfeeding; however, such factor, in isolation, is not decisive for exclusive breastfeeding. Self-efficacy should be identified during the pre-natal period through mothers’ employment and marital status data to promote preventive actions against early weaning.