Women’s experiences of breastfeeding during pregnancy: A Turkish descriptive study

Background Breastfeeding is generally terminated when the mother becomes pregnant again within two years because there is no clear consensus on how to manage breastfeeding during pregnancy. Additionally, health professionals may not have accurate information about this issue. This study aimed to determine women’s attitudes towards breastfeeding during pregnancy and why they stopped breastfeeding when they became pregnant. Methods This study is a descriptive one, involving pregnant mothers with a breastfeeding infant under 2 years old (n=101). The participants were followed up regarding those who had given birth to a new child and chosen the BDP. The researchers surveyed them after birth. The data were collected using a survey form that included a total of 26 questions created by the researchers, which aligned with the existing literature. Data were collected using a questionnaire that included information about maternal, neonatal, and obstetrical data, as well as breastfeeding experience and problems encountered during pregnancy. Data were handled and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics v22.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results The mean age of the mothers was 29.3 years (SD±4.9), gravidity was 3.2 (SD±1.7), and parity was 2.5 (SD±1.1). The mean age of the breastfed children was 12.6 months (SD±5.3) when the mothers became pregnant again. The reasons for stopping breastfeeding were professional advice (35%, n=34), their own decision (30%, n=30), believing that breastfeeding could have adverse effects on the unborn baby, and social pressure (16%). Only 5% (n=5) of mothers continued breastfeeding between 7 and 9 months after pregnancy. Conclusions Our results indicate that when a mother wishes to breastfeed during pregnancy, providing breastfeeding counseling by healthcare professionals with accurate information is essential to sustain lactation and maintain the well-being of the breastfeeding child without harm to the unborn baby.