The relationships between the COVID-19 fears of mothers and their mother-infant bonding and breastfeeding self-efficacy in the postpartum period*

ABSTRACTMothers who are in more sensitive and in a different state in the postpartum period may think that the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the health of their babies. This study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the COVID-19 fears of mothers in the postpartum period and their mother-infant bonding and breastfeeding self-efficacy levels. This descriptive study included 258 mothers who had given birth at a state hospital in Turkey. The data were collected an information form, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale, the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale and analyzed. It was found that the mothers had moderate COVID-19 fear levels, they did not experience mother-infant bonding problems, and their breastfeeding self-efficacy levels were high. There was a negative relationship between the COVID-19 fear scores and breastfeeding self-efficacy scores. It may be recommended to provide education programs the relationships between breastfeeding, mother-infant bonding, and COVID-19 on mothers.KEYWORDS: COVID-19mother-infant bondingbreastfeedingpostpartum period AcknowledgementsWe would like to thank the mothers who participated in this study.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Authorship statementMP and İY designed the study. İY and MP were responsible for data management and data analysis. All authors drafted and revised the manuscript.Funding or sourcesThe authors did not receive any special funding for this study.Additional informationNotes on contributorsMerve PolatMerve Polat, is a nurse in Baby Monitoring And Follow-Up Center, Sivas Numune Hospital, Sivas, Turkey. She completed her master's degree in Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Institute of Health Sciences in 2022.İlknur Yildizİlknur Yıldız, is an assistant professor in Pediatric Nursing Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey. Her research interests focus on infant, child and adolescent health.