فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding is beneficial for the health of infants and mothers. It is a complexsocial behavior that may be influenced by social support. The study aimed to determine the relationshipbetween perceived social support of breastfeeding women and their breastfeeding patterns.MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research was a cross‑sectional study on 300 mothers with6‑month infants or younger who were selected randomly. The data collection tool consisted standardsocial support and breastfeeding patterns questionnaires. We analyzed data using descriptive andanalytical tests and SPSS 18 at a significance level of < 0.05.RESULTS: The results indicated that 85%, 82.2%, and 38% of the infants were exclusivelybreastfed at 1 week, 4, and 6 months after delivery, respectively. The result of post hoc LSD testindicated that the mean number of supporters for mothers, who were in the 6th month of delivery,was significantly lower than other times (P = 0.001). The one‑way analysis of variance indicatedno significant difference between perceived satisfaction of social support at different periods afterdelivery (P = 0.92). Despite the present results, which indicated that the number of supporters andscores of satisfaction with support in exclusive breastfeeding were higher than other groups, thedifferences were not statistically significant.CONCLUSIONS: The mean number of supporters was less in women, who had 6‑month‑old infants,than mothers who had just given birth. It seems mothers with supplements and formula feedingpatterns, such as breastfeeding mothers, may be supported to use these methods. Therefore, morestudies are suggested on this field.