Evaluation of breastfeeding self-efficacy on postpartum women

Abstract

Every year, more than 10 million children under the age of five die in the world. Studies show that the promotion of breastfeeding, as recommended by the World Health Organization, is the action with the greatest potential to reduce children mortality. This practice involves several aspects, among them the woman's confidence in her capacity as a nursing mother, called breastfeeding self-efficacy, which can be modified according to the way of life of each woman. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the breastfeeding self-efficacy on postpartum women from a city in São Paulo State. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study with 250 women. Two instruments were used to perform these interviews: the first one covering identification data and sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics, and the second one, the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (BSES). Of the 250 women interviewed, 191 (76.4%) presented high, 43 (17.2%) average and 16 (6.4%) low breastfeeding self-efficacy. Conclusion: although the data show a predominantly high breastfeeding self-efficacy, it is important that practices that encourage breastfeeding are routinely performed, especially in health services, in prenatal and puerperal consultations, ensuring mothers a better experience in breastfeeding, and for babies, a better quality of life.