Effects of prenatal breast-feeding education on postnatal breast-feeding fear in pregnant women in the COVID-19 pandemic: A randomized clinical trial

Aim This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of prenatal breast-feeding education provided to pregnant women who experience fear of breast-feeding in the COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods A prospective randomized controlled trial study was conducted with 128 pregnant women (64 in the experimental group and 64 in the control group) between November 2021 and February 2022. The data were collected via the Numeric Pain Rating Scale, the Breastfeeding Motivation Scale and the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale to assess fear, motivation and attitudes regarding breast-feeding. The pregnant women in the experimental group were provided with and education programme on 'safe breastfeeding in the COVID-19 pandemic'. The breast-feeding education included in standard care was given to the control group after pre-test data collection was completed. Results The significant differences in the mean Numeric Pain Rating Scale, Breastfeeding Motivation Scale and Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale scores of the groups were in favour of the experimental group (P < 0.05). It was determined that in the first postnatal month, in the experimental group, the numbers of women who believed that their breast-feeding was not affected by COVID-19 and the numbers of infants solely breastmilk-fed were higher compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusion Prenatal breast-feeding education about safe breast-feeding in the COVID-19 pandemic period can reduce fears of breast-feeding and increase motivation and approving attitudes regarding breast-feeding.