The Relationship Between Maternal Attachment, Perceived Social Support and Breast-Feeding Sufficiency

Objective: To determine the relationship between maternal attachment, perceived social support and breast-feeding sufficiency. Study Design: Descriptive correlational design. Place and Duration of Study: A state hospital and two family health centers in Sakarya, Turkey, between June to December 2011. Methodology: The sample was 122 voluntary mothers who had healthy babies of 1 - 2 months old. The data were collected by a Personal Information Form, Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) and Breast-feeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (BSES-SF). The data collected were analysed by percentage distribution, mean square, independent sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskall-Wallis and Pearson correlation. Results: The mean age of the mothers was 25.01 ± 2.2 years, and 48.4% of them were primary school graduates. BSESSF was 61.02 ± 8.44 (16 - 70), MAI was 99.07 ± 7.19 (56 - 100) and MSPSS was 66.40 ± 13.58 (37 - 84). There was a positive, medium level, significant relationship between the total scores of BSES-SF and MAI (r=0.370, p < 0.001). There was a positive, medium level, significant relationship between the total score of BSES-SF and the score from family subdimension of MSPSS (r=0.255, p < 0.01).There was a positive, medium level, significant relationship between the total score of MAI and the total score of family subdimension of MSPSS (r=0.339, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Successful maternal attachment and familial support positively affected the breast-feeding sufficiency of the mother. (author)