Examination of the Relationship Between Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy and Perceived Breastfeeding Sufficiency of Mothers

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between breastfeeding self-efficacy and perceived breastfeeding sufficiency of mothers with healthy infants aged 0-6 months who applied to the pediatric outpatient clinic of a public hospital and a university hospital in the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus. MATERIAL and METHODS: This was a descriptive and correlational study. The universe of this study consisted of mothers who had 0-6 months old infants who applied to the pediatric outpatient clinic of a public hospital and the gynecology service of a university hospital. The data of this study were collected by using a questionnaire form containing the mothers’ descriptive information, the Breastfeeding Self-efficacy Scale and the Perceived Insufficient Milk Questionnaire. RESULTS: When the mothers’ mean scores on the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale and the Perceived Insufficient Milk Questionnaire were evaluated, it was found that the mean score on the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale was X:60.16 ± standard deviation (SD) =9.00 and the mean score on the Perceived Insufficient Milk Questionnaire was X:42.06 ± SD =8.26. A statistically significant positive correlation was found between the scores on these two scales (r=0.66, p=0.00). Those mothers who were 25 years old or younger and those mothers who were 36 years old or older were found to have 19 higher perceptions of breastfeeding self-efficacy than the mothers in the other age groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: In this study, the mothers’ status of giving complementary foods affected their perceived milk insufficiency. This study found that breastfeeding self-efficacy increased when the perception of milk adequacy increased.