Lactation Education as an Important Tool for Infant Nutrition and Maternal Health
Abstract:
Background: Numerous social and
medical institutions encourage breastfeeding education and ensure that the WHO
recommendations are followed. However, the postpartum period is associated with
a great number of psychological challenges, which can contribute to the effectiveness
of specific programs or invalidate their effects. Unfortunately, too many
programs disregard the importance of the psychological aspects and mainly the
underlying beliefs of the females on the education outcomes. It is crucial to
consider lactation education from the perspective of the mothers as the target
audience. Purpose: The current research focused on how the beliefs of young
first-time mothers and their attitudes to different types of sessions influenced
the well-being of these mothers and their kids. Methods: The current quantitative
research analyzed and compared the perceived effects that different types of lactation
education can have on mother’s and infant’s well-being. Results: According to
the results, education with the psychological component was associated with
higher scores and higher perceived benefits by first-time mothers. Factor 1
(Psychological Education Perception) reveals that factors were “Not Normally
Distributed” (p < 0.05). Factors 2, 3, and 4 were Normally Distributed (p
> 0.05). ANOVA Results for Normally Distributed Factors revealed no
significant difference between groups for Factor 2,3,4. Kruskal-Wallis Test for
Non-Normal Factors revealed a highly significant difference (p < 10⁻¹⁶⁰) for
Factor 1. Conclusion: Generally, it becomes clear that psychological aspects
have a strong impact on perceptions of education value. In contrast, education
challenges, mental health benefits, and infant well-being perceptions do not
depend on the presence or absence of any mental health training. This suggests
that mothers who received psychological education perceived their learning
experience as more valuable and were more motivated to accept the support and
education and learn all relevant materials properly.
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