Prenatal breastfeeding intervention program to increase breastfeeding duration among low income women

Abstract

Extensive research confirms the nutritional, economic, biomedical, immunological, and psychological advantages of breast milk. Despite the clear benefits of breastfeeding to mother and infant, breastfeeding rates today continue to remain below the recommended levels in the United States, most notably among low-income mothers. One factor that plays a role in breast-feeding success and may be modifiable by nursing intervention is maternal self-efficacy. This study aimed to increase the breast-feeding du-ration through an intervention based on Den-nis’s Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Theory. A quasi-Experimental design was used to test the effect of the intervention program on duration of breastfeeding. A convenience sample of 37 low-income women was recruited from two rural pre-natal clinics in the Midwest. Data were collected using the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES) and a demographic profile. Women were con-tacted by telephone at two and six weeks post-partum to determine if they were still breast-feeding and to complete the BSES. The women who were assigned to a breast-feeding self-efficacy intervention showed significantly greater increases in breast-feeding duration and self-efficacy than did the women in the control group. The results of this study suggest that the one-hour of breastfeeding intervention program during the prenatal period may increase the duration of breastfeeding in low-income women who intend to breastfeed. This study supports the literature which found that prenatal education and postpartum support are important to the out-come of breastfeeding.