Promotion of breast feeding in the postpartum mother [abstract]

A structured interview and followup was used to investigate the effect of "enlightenment" of the postpartum mother on breastfeeding. The study involved 85 postpartum women attending the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. The mothers were divided into 3 groups: mothers approached immediately after delivery repeating the process during the 2nd and 3rd postpartum days and seeing the mother-infant pairs at monthly intervals after discharge; mothers briefed in only 1 session; and noninformed mothers. The latter group was not contacted by the team until the end of the first 4 weeks postpartum. At the end of the 3rd month the proportions of infants who were breastfed only were 96.5% 50% and 20% in the 1st 2nd and 3rd groups respectively. There was no difference in weight gain among infants in different groups. No differences could be established in the behavior of the infants in the 3 groups.