Attitudes of pregnant women and their partners towards breastfeeding

Abstract

Introduction and objective Breastfeeding is the most natural and optimal way to ensure full health and proper development of any newborn or infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests exclusive breastfeeding until the child is 6 months old and maintaining it with gradual expansion of the diet up to the age of 2 and beyond. The purpose of this study was to examine what attitudes towards breastfeeding characterize pregnant women and their partners preparing for childbirth in a childbirth school. Material and methods The study was conducted using a diagnostic survey in the form of an on-line questionnaire among 250 women and 37 men attending a childbirth school. The first part of the questionnaire consisted of 19 questions concerning the respondents’ socio-demographic data: age, gender, material standard, sources of knowledge concerning breastfeeding, and personal preferences regarding the method of feeding children. The second part was The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale, designed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of the respondents towards breastfeeding. Results Positive attitude towards breastfeeding characterized 30% of the respondents, 63.2% of them showed a natural attitude, whereas 6.8% – a negative attitude. Among women, the percentage of those who had a positive attitude towards breastfeeding was higher than among men (p<0.001). Conclusions Based on the results of research it was found that the most common attitude displayed by parents-to-be towards breastfeeding is a neutral one. Persons with positive attitudes towards this method of feeding dominated in the group of women. Participation in childbirth school classes favours the reduction of negative attitudes towards breastfeeding, thus supporting the development of favourable attitudes towards natural feeding (neutral and positive).

Keywords

• breastfeeding
• parents
• attitude