title: Social cognitive changes resulting from an effective breastfeeding education program.
abstract: Infants of parents with a history of asthma could benefit from exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months of life to reduce the chance of developing childhood asthma. Continuing to breastfeed for 6 months seemed difficult to perform for many Dutch women. Therefore, an educational breastfeeding program was developed and implemented. The program (a theory-based booklet and pre- and postnatal home visits by trained assistants) significantly improved exclusive breastfeeding rates at 6 months postpartum (48% for intervention vs. 27% for control). Repeated-measurements analyses showed significant increases in knowledge and more positive attitudinal beliefs regarding breastfeeding for 6 months, in particular immediately after exposure to the program, compared with the controls. As expected, over time perceived self-efficacy and women's positive emotions toward breastfeeding increased, and support for breastfeeding diminished in both groups. The intervention group was reported to perceive more pressure to bottle feed and to know more breastfeeding models than the control group. Implications for practice are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. ilse.mesters@maastrichtuniversity.nl
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mesters
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gijsbers
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bartholomew
authors.forename: J Andre
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Knottnerus
authors.forename: Onno C P
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Van Schayck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010174:Pamphlets; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011181:Postnatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020377:Self Efficacy