Effects of a Breast-Feeding Empowerment Program on Exclusive Breast-Feeding

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop an antepartum-postpartum breast-feeding program titled "Breast-feeding Empowerment Program" and to measure the effects of this program on breast-feeding empowerment and the rate of exclusive breast-feeding. Methods: The study design was a nonequivalent control group design with repeated measures. Results: The scores for breast-feeding empowerment of the experimental group (EG) were higher than those of the control group (CG) at week 1, 4, 8, 12. The rates for exclusive breast-feeding of the experimental group were also higher than those of the control group: 86.4% in the EG and 40.9% in the CG at week 1; 100% vs 42.9% at week 4; 86.4% vs 38.1% at week 8; 95.5% vs 38.1% at week 12; 94.7% vs 31.6% at 6 months; 89.5% vs 26.3% at 12 months. Conclusion: The study provided evidence that raising consciousness and strengthening mothers will and skills for exclusive breast-feeding helps them to achieve successful breast-feeding by themselves. In addition mothers need to be empowered to breast-feed starting before delivery and continuing after delivery. This approach could make long-term exclusive breast-feeding successful.