Breastfeeding Counseling Approach Involving Grandmothers (BAKED)

Adequate nutrition during infancy and early childhood are fundamental to the development of a child. It is well recognized that the period from birth to two years of age is a "critical window" for the promotion of optimal growth, health, and behavioral development. The World Health Organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the National Association of Pediatric Nursing Practitioners, UNICEF and CDC acknowledge that breastfeeding is the ideal diet for babies and recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life, and continuing breastfeeding until the age of 2. postpartum breastfeeding is widespread in Turkey. According to the 2018 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey (2018 TDHS) data, 98% of the last-born children in the two years before the study were breastfed. However, 41% of children younger than six months are only fed with breast milk.

In many studies, it is stated that the education of both the mother, her relatives and the healthcare personnel plays a key role in breastfeeding success. Postpartum social support is important for the protection of both mother and baby health. Culturally, in Turkish society, the postpartum period, which mothers and grandmothers spend more often together, and the positive support of the mother are very important for both the short and long term maternal and infant health. In the literature, it is emphasized that the most important factors in starting additional food and formula in the early period are the influence of the immediate environment and family and that grandmothers are vital in baby care and feeding In addition, inadequate or misguided grandmothers due to lack of knowledge and traditional attitudes during this period can have a negative effect on the continuation of breastfeeding. Although there are studies in the literature on breastfeeding training given to mothers and healthcare personnel, there are very few studies on inclusive breastfeeding counseling for grandmothers who have a primary support role. However, there is RCT study regarding the application of breastfeeding counseling involving grandmothers who have been followed up in a clinical setting, and no project has been found in our country on this subject. With this planned project, this effect will be investigated for the first time. For this reason, it is thought that the results of this project will have positive effects on the strengthening of breastfeeding and mother-baby health and will have extremely important outputs for its applicability in clinical and public health centers. In this direction, this research aims to increase only breast milk intake in the first 6 months in the short term and to have longer breastfeeding periods in the long term. It was planned for breastfeeding counseling to empower grandmothers who support postnatal mother and baby care, increase their knowledge about breastfeeding, and support mothers by developing a positive attitude.

The research was planned as a randomized controlled study. Voluntary postpartum primiparous mothers who have recently given birth and their accompanying grandmothers will be randomly assigned to the intervention and control group. The grandmothers in the intervention group will be given breastfeeding counseling before discharge. Home monitoring will be performed in the 2nd week, 3rd and 6th months after the counseling. In each follow-up, breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes of the grandmothers, breastfeeding success of mothers, attitude towards breastfeeding, perception of postpartum support and newborn growth parameters will be determined. As a result of the research, the effect of breastfeeding training given to grandmothers will be evaluated breastfeeding status of the first 6 months, self-efficacy, attitude, social support perceptions, breastfeeding continuity and newborn growth parameters of primiparous mothers who have just given birth.