Social Support and Its Relationship with Self-efficacy and Breastfeeding Practice in Lactating Women Referring to Tabriz Health Centers, 2014-15

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: Breast milk is the best food source for infants and exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for first 6 months and should be continued for two years. This study was conducted by the purpose of determining social support, breastfeeding self-efficacy and performance and the relationship between them in mothers referred to health centers of Tabriz, Iran in 2014-15. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 220 mothers with 4-6 month-old infants referred to health centers of Tabriz by cluster sampling method. The data collection tools were socio-demographic questionnaire, Personal Relationship Questionnaire (PRO-85-psrtz), Breastfeeding self-efficacy scale (BSES) and the questionnaire of measuring knowledge, attitude and breastfeeding performance which were self-completed. After the collection, data were analyzed by SPSS version 21. Pearson correlation, one-way ANOVA, independent-t tests and and multi-variate liner regression were used for data analysis. Results: The results of the study showed that the mean (Standard Deviation) of social support score was 141.2 (19.6), self-efficacy mean score (SD) was 138.6 (11.9) and breastfeeding performance mean score (SD) was 3.6 (1.2). There were positive significant correlations between social support and breastfeeding self-efficacy (p>0.001, r= 0.31) and between breastfeeding self-efficacy and breastfeeding performance (p= 0.033, r= 0.144); while, there were no significant correlations between social support and breastfeeding performance and between breastfeeding performance and knowledge and attitude. According to multivariate linear regression, mother’s job and breastfeeding self-efficacy were predictive variables of breastfeeding performance. Conclusion: Considering the importance of mother’s health especially during breastfeeding and the undeniable benefits of nutrition with breast milk, some solutions should be recommended for sensitizing family and society toward supporting mothers in order to increase mother’s self-efficacy and breastfeeding status.