UURIMISTÖÖDE ARTIKLID
EMADE ARUSAAMAD IMETAMISEST JA RINNAGA TOITMIST MÕJUTAVATEST TEGURITEST Mothers’ understanding of breastfeeding and of the factors influencing breastfeeding Elisabeth Aas, Marge Mahla
Abstract The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of the infant’s life because it has been proven to have many beneficial effects on the health of mothers and infants. Breastfeeding rates and duration should be higher because only few mothers are not able to breastfeed their infant. Based on previous research it has become evident that different interventions can increase the rates and duration of breastfeeding. For that it is important to know the factors influencing breastfeeding and mothers’ understanding of breastfeeding. A number of countries have studied the factors influencing breastfeeding and mothers’ understanding of breastfeeding that can be different in different countries. Therefore, it is important to study the topic also in Estonia. The aim of this study is to describe mothers’ understanding of breastfeeding and of the factors influencing breastfeeding, and to explain their influence on the initiation and duration of breastfeeding. This is a quantitative empirical research study. The data was collected through an online questionnaire which was based on Leena Hannula’s questionnaire for mothers. 79 mothers who had children under five and were involved in the patient lists of family medicine practices of Paide Arst OÜ and Perearst Ruth Ladva OÜ answered the questionnaire.
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