Health literacy and breastfeeding self-efficacy: A cross-sectional study among postpartum mothers
Abstract
Objective: Health literacy (HL) encompasses the ability of individuals to access, understand, and use health information. In the postpartum period, mothers’ HL and Breastfeeding self-efficacy (BSE) levels are critical for both maternal and infant health. In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the levels of HL and BSE of mothers with 0-2-week postpartum infants, to analyze differences according to socio-demographic characteristics, and to examine the relationship between HL and BSE.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 202 mothers with 0-2-week infants between March and April 2024. The data were collected by face-to-face interviews using a socio-demographic information form, HL, and BSE scales and analyzed with the SPSS 25 package program.
Results: The participants’ HL level (87.02±19.69; 25-125 point range) and BSE level (51.12±12.74; 14-70 point range) were found to be moderate. Demographic factors such as educational level, social security, family type, and number of children had significant effects on both scales. In addition, a positive correlation was found between HL and BSE.
Conclusion: The study findings indicate a statistically significant and positive relationship between mothers' health literacy and breastfeeding self-efficacy. In this context, it is thought that interventions aimed at improving mothers’ health literacy may support breastfeeding self-efficacy. It is recommended that midwives and nurses working in primary health care services implement practical breastfeeding counselling programmes, supported by visual materials, for mothers with low health literacy and no social security.
Keywords
Breastfeeding, health literacy, infant health, self-efficacy scale, postpartum
Supporting Institution
Ethical Statement
Thanks
References
- 1. Yılmazel G. Low health literacy, poor knowledge, and practice among Turkish women patients undergoing cervical cancer screening. J Cancer Res Ther 2019;15(6):1276-81.
- 2. World Health Organization (WHO). Improving early childhood development: WHO guideline, 2020.
- 3. Salarvand S, Ghazvineh S, Mousivand F, Ahmadi Gharaei H, Bitaraf S. Health literacy and its related factors as predictors for the breastfeeding self-efficacy in a western province in Iran. BMC Public Health. 2023;23(1):593.
- 4. Meldgaard M, Gamborg M, Maindal HT. Health literacy levels among women in the prenatal period: A systematic review. Sex Reprod Healthc. 2022;34:100796.
- 5. Moafi F, Hajnasiri H, Hosseini T, Alimoradi Z, Bajalan Z. Breastfeeding self-efficacy and its associated factors in women who gave birth in Kosar Hospital of Qazvin in 2016-2017: A descriptive study. J Rafsanjan Univ Med Sci. 2019;17(11):1003-16.
- 6. Uyar G, Beydağ KD. Emziren annelerin e-sağlık okuryazarlığı düzeyinin bebek beslenmesi tutumuna etkisi. Fenerbahçe Univ Sağlık Bilim Derg. 2022;2(3):548-58.
- 7. Gaupšienė A, Vainauskaitė A, Baglajeva J, Stukas R, Ramašauskaitė D, Paliulytė V, et al. Associations between maternal health literacy, neonatal health and breastfeeding outcomes in the early postpartum period. Eur J Midwifery. 2023;7:25.
- 8. Victora CG, Bahl R, Barros AJ, França GV, Horton S, Krasevec J, et al. Breastfeeding in the 21st century: Epidemiology, mechanisms, and lifelong effect. Lancet. 2016;387(10017):475-90.
- 9. Maleki-Saghooni N, Amel Barez M, Karimi FZ. Investigation of the relationship between social support and breastfeeding self-efficacy in primiparous breastfeeding mothers. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2020;33(18):3097-102.
- 10. Mirjalili N, Jaberi AA, Jaberi KA, Bonabi TN. The role of maternal health literacy in breastfeeding pattern. J Nurs Midwifery Sci. 2018;5(2):53-8.