Date of Award

11-13-2022

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MSc in Nursing

First Advisor

Dr Tazeen Saeed Ali

Second Advisor

Ms. Zohra Kurji

Third Advisor

Ms. Kiran Mubeen

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Breastfeeding should be initiated within the first hour of a child’s life and exclusively continued till six months’ aftermath initiation of semisolids and solids. It has numerous health benefits for not only infants but for mothers and reduces the risk of several disease conditions in both mother and child. Lactation consultants improve breastfeeding outcomes, lower health care costs, improve consumer satisfaction, institution’s image and trust, and improve breastfeeding programs and policies.
/="/">Purpose: The study aimed to measure breastfeeding self-efficacy and explore the experiences of mothers who availed the lactation clinic services during the period of January-December 2021 at the tertiary care hospital of Karachi, Pakistan.
/="/">Method: A concurrent mixed-method study design was conducted with 105 (quantitative) and 16 (qualitative) participant mothers who availed the lactation clinic services during the year 2021. Qualitative content analysis and logistic regression with quartile distribution were carried out to detect and extract major themes and mean breastfeeding self-efficacy scores along with demographic characteristics that are associated with increasing breastfeeding self-efficacy of mothers.
/="/">Results: Three major themes were extracted from the qualitative findings of the study including factors affecting breastfeeding practices, the emerging role of lactation consultants, and future recommendations. The mean breastfeeding self-efficacy score of mothers who availed the lactation clinic services was 58.69 (±13.59). There was a significant association found between gravida (p-value=0.013) and location (p-value=0.03) of mothers with their breastfeeding self-efficacy. Moreover, the participant mothers reported being moderately confident regarding breastfeeding without using formula as a supplement and comfortable breastfeeding in public places or in the presence of family members.
/="/">Conclusion: The current study found that lactation services are required by mothers at all phases (prenatal, antenatal, and postnatal) to increase breastfeeding self-efficacy of mothers while the role of the lactation consultant is significant for mothers to promote, motivate and sustain breastfeeding practices among women in Pakistan.

First Page

1

Last Page

109

Download

Share

COinS