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Objective: The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between perceived breast milk supply and breastfeeding self-efficacy among mothers whose newborns were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Methods: Designed as an analytical and cross-sectional study, this study was performed from March 2021 to May 2022 with 237 mothers in Türkiye. A Mother–Infant Information Form, the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES), and the Perception of Insufficient Milk (PIM) Questionnaire were used in the collection of data. The Shapiro–Wilk test, kurtosis and skewness coefficients, t-tests, analysis of variance, post hoc tests, Pearson’s correlation analysis, and linear regression analyses were used in statistical analyses.
Results: In our study, being older, having high levels of education, having a high-level income, having a planned pregnancy, and having a vaginal delivery influenced breastfeeding self-efficacy and perceptions of breast milk sufficiency. The breastfeeding self-efficacy levels and breast milk sufficiency perceptions of the participants were also positively affected by receiving breastfeeding training, breastfeeding the newborn in the first 24 hours after birth, having a long-term breastfeeding plan, and feeding the newborn exclusively with breast milk. The mean BSES and PIM scores of the participants were 58.97 ± 11.11 and 39.15 ± 10.39, respectively. It was also found that 66.7% of the participants believed they produced enough breast milk to feed their newborns. A statistically significant strong positive relationship was found between breastfeeding self-efficacy and perceptions of breast milk sufficiency (r=0.854, P=.000). The independent variable of breastfeeding self-efficacy accounted for 72.8% of the total variance in the dependent variable of perceptions of sufficient milk (R2=0.728).
Conclusion: In this study, mothers whose newborns were hospitalized in the NICU were found to have above-average breastfeeding self-efficacy levels and breast milk sufficiency perceptions. In addition, it was found that as the level of breastfeeding self-efficacy of the mothers and their perception of the sufficiency of breast milk increased.
Cite this article as: Candan N, Çağlayan Keleş N. The relationship between breast milk sufficiency perceptions and breastfeeding self-efficacy of mothers with infants hospitalized in the NICU: an analytical cross-sectional study. Arch Health Sci Res. 2024;11(3):172-177.