The Effectiveness of Breastfeeding Promotion by a Volunteer Mother Group Program on the Knowledge, Attitude, and Behavior Related to Exclusive Breastfeeding for 6 Months and Opinions toward Breastfeeding Promotion Among a Group of Volunteer Postpartum Mothers

Abstract

Exclusive breastfeeding rate in Thailand is less than 50% which is unable to achieve the goals set by World Health Organization.  This quasi-experimental research was conducted to examine the effectiveness of the Breastfeeding Promotion by a Volunteer Mother Group Program (BPG) on the knowledge, attitude, and behavior related to exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, and opinions toward BPG. This study was a one-group pretest-posttest design. The sample included 30 postpartum and breastfeeding mothers living in the Ko Khwang district of Chanthaburi province, Thailand. The BPG intervention was created based on the concept of social support introduced by House. Data were collected before and after implementing the intervention using a questionnaire to assess the knowledge, attitude, and behavior related to exclusive breastfeeding, as well as the opinions toward BPG. Descriptive statistics and paired t-tests were used for the data analysis. The results revealed that, after implementing the intervention, attitudes towards breastfeeding were significantly more favorable than before the intervention, t(29) = -3.23, p = .002. Also, the opinions towards BPG indicated a high level of approval (M = 4.26, SD = 0.809). However, knowledge and behavior related to breastfeeding before and after the intervention were not significantly different, t(29) =  -1.31, p = .263, t(29) = -3.3, p = .199, respectively. In sum, BPG increases the positive attitudes of postpartum mothers towards breastfeeding, but it does not significantly affect their knowledge and behavior. Therefore, public health personnel should promote breastfeeding using groups of volunteers to encourage mothers to have positive attitudes toward breastfeeding.