The Effect of Breastfeeding Education Given to Family Members on Breastfeeding Parameters

Power analysis was performed using the G*Power(v3.1.9) program to determine the sample size. The power of the study is expressed as 1-β (β = probability of type II error) and in general, studies must have 80% power. According to the effect size coefficients determined by Cohen, assuming that the evaluations to be made between two independent groups will have a medium effect size (d = 0.5), α = 0.05 and β = 0.20, it was determined that there should be at least 64 people in each group, according to the calculation. Considering that there may be losses during the study process, the sample size was increased by 20% and it was decided to include at least 77 people in each group. The calculation of the sample size was based on Zeliha Burcu Baysal's doctoral thesis titled The Effect of Breastfeeding Education and Counseling Given to Pregnant Women and Their Spouses on the Breastfeeding Process and Attachment.

The main aims of the study are:

Breastfeeding education given to the family member; Does it increase the rate of mothers starting breastfeeding? Breastfeeding education given to the family member; Does it increase the rate of mothers giving exclusive breastfeeding in the first month? In the intervention group, family members will be given breastfeeding education and they will be asked to support mothers in the postpartum period.

In the comparison group, no breastfeeding education was given to the family member.

Inclusion criteria

For mothers;

• Will receive support from a family member during the postpartum period,
• Having an uncomplicated pregnancy and birth history,
• No multiple pregnancy,
• Not giving birth before the 37th week of pregnancy,
• Not having any disease that prevents breastfeeding in the postpartum period (undergoing chemotherapy, active tuberculosis, using drugs that prevent breastfeeding, etc.),
• Spending the pregnancy period and the first month after birth in the area where the research will be conducted,
• Being at least a primary school graduate,
• No communication problems,
• Being primiparous or multiparous with breastfeeding problems,
• For the family member who will provide support to the mother in the postpartum period, as long as the baby does not have any health problems that prevent breastfeeding;
• Spending time with the mother regularly for at least 1 hour at least five days a week during the postpartum period,
• Being able to communicate in Turkish,
• It was defined as residing in the same city during the period when the research data was collected.

Exclusion criteria

For mothers;

• Those with a history of complicated pregnancy and birth,
• Those with multiple pregnancies,
• Those with premature babies,
• Conditions related to mother and baby that prevent breastfeeding in the postpartum period (pregnancy psychosis, congenital anomaly, sucking and swallowing coordination disorder, etc.),
• Those who will not live in the area where the research will be conducted during pregnancy and the first month after birth,
• Those who have difficulty communicating for various reasons (not being able to speak Turkish, serious hearing problems, etc.)
• Mothers who did not meet the research criteria for any reason after being included in the study (interventional birth, the baby having any disease requiring hospitalization in neonatal intensive care, etc.) were excluded from the scope of the study.