Effectiveness of distance education program on mothers’ empowerment in exclusive breastfeeding: A randomized clinical trial
نویسندگان
1 Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran
2 Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran
3 Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran
4 Department of General Courses, School of Medicine, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran
5 Department of Public Health, School of Public Health, Mobility Impairment Research Center, Health Research Institute, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, I.R.Iran
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doi
چکیده
BACKGROUND: Mothers need the necessary skills to be empowered in successful breastfeeding.This study aimed to investigate effectiveness of the distance education program on the mothers’empowerment in exclusive breastfeeding.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized clinical trial study was done on 72 nulliparous pregnantwomen 28–32 weeks with normal pregnancy. The qualified women were randomly assigned to theintervention and control groups based on the random‑number table. The breastfeeding trainingpackages were sent to women in the intervention group via Telegram every week from 32 until37 weeks of gestation. The mothers’ empowerment in breastfeeding (primary outcome) and theexclusive breastfeeding rate (secondary outcome) were assessed by questionnaires.RESULTS: Based on the repeated measured tests, although scores for all domains and also thetotal score of the mothers’ empowerment in breastfeeding between two groups had increasedduring the study period, there was a significant difference between the increasing trends of thematernal empowerment domains in two groups (interaction P value ‹0.001). Also, the prevalence ofexclusive breastfeeding (secondary outcome) at 6 months was significantly higher in the interventiongroup (81.8% and 57.1% in the intervention and control groups, respectively) (P = 0.028).CONCLUSION: Distance education could increase all domains of the mothers’ empowerment inbreastfeeding after delivery. Also, exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months after delivery was significantlyhigher in mothers who were receiving the distance education packages.
