The relationship between the perception of breast milk of parents with term infants and exclusive breastfeeding in the postnatal first six months

OBJECTIVE: Breast milk is the ideal food that meets all kinds of nutritional contents of babies. The World Health Organization recommends that all babies be fed exclusively breastfeeding for the first 6 months. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the perception of breast milk of mothers and fathers with term babies and exclusively breastfeeding status in the first 6 months and to investigate the factors affecting exclusively breastfeeding status. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Our longitudinal type study includes healthy/term infants and their parents born between 1 July-30 September 2018. In the postpartum period “adult’s perception level of breast milk scale” was completed by the parents. The nutritional properties of the babies were recorded by reaching the families by phone when they were 2, 4, and 6 months old. Of the 341 families that participated in the study, 332 were evaluated and the study was completed with 304, 297, and 292 families at the 2(nd), 4(th), and 6(th) months, respectively. RESULTS: Exclusively breastfeeding ratio was 85.5%, 68%, and 50% in the 2(nd), 4(th), and 6(th) months, respectively. The mean score of the mothers on perception level of milk scale was significantly higher than the fathers (133.97±10.01 vs 123.91±13.41, p<0.001, respectively). The scale score of the mothers receiving breastfeeding training was significantly higher than the mothers without training (135.19±8.55 vs 130.91±12.25, respectively, p=0.008). The mode of delivery is related to the level of perception of breast milk of mothers and fathers. Mothers who had the last cesarean section had lower scale scores than those who delivered normally (131.71±12.11 vs 134.94±8.80, respectively, p=0.007). In the fathers whose spouse had a cesarean section, the scale scores were significantly higher than those whose spouses had normal delivery (126.42±12.73 vs 122.83±13.57, p=0.026, respectively). There was no correlation between exclusively breastfeeding status and breastmilk perception levels of the parents in the first 6 months. The mother’s breastfeeding her previous child for ≥6 months and the use of pacifier/baby bottle were associated with exclusively breastfeeding status in the first 6 months. CONCLUSION: Fathers should be included in breastmilk and breastfeeding training.