• Perspectives in Nursing Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.97-110
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• 2013

Purpose: This study sought to identify how initiating breastfeeding soon after birth affected breastfeeding practice. Methods: The subjects were mothers and newborns in Seoul's S. University Hospital maternity unit who elected to breastfeed. They were divided into an experimental group, which practiced an "early latching-on program" (latching-on within 30 minutes after birth), and a control group, which did not. Both groups' daily frequencies of breastfeeding and supplementary-glucose or bottle feeding were recorded. Results: The correlation between socio-demographic and medical characteristics and the breastfeeding rate was examined; 3 variables showed statistical significance: neonatal health anomaly, Apgar score after 1 minute, and Apgar score after 5 minutes. The difference in breastfeeding rates between the two groups was clear: the experimental group's rate was 1.93, while the control group's was 3.76 (t-statistic difference: 14.865), with the experimental group's rate during hospitalization being twice that of the control group (73.3% and 32.6%, respectively). Multiple regression analysis assessing the influence of the latching-on program yielded a t-statistic of -4.735 and a p-value of .000, indicating statistical significance. Conclusion: An early latching-on program's positive effect on the breastfeeding practice of mother's of newborns was demonstrated. Therefore, an early latching-on program could be a practical and effective nursing intervention for after mothers give birth.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.264-274
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate breastfeeding effectiveness scale to measure effectiveness of breastfeeding for mothers in the early postpartum period. Methods: A conceptual framework was constructed from properties of effective breastfeeding (Yang and Seo, 2011), and item construction was derived from literature review and analysis of the data along with interviews with breastfeeding mothers. Content validity was tested by experts. Each item was scored on a five-point Likert scale. The preliminary questionnaire was administered to 248 breastfeeding mothers. Data were analyzed using item analysis, factor analysis, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's ${\alpha}$. Results: From the factor analysis, 20 items in seven factors were derived. The factors were identified as mother's satisfaction, suckling, assurance of milk quantity, infant's satisfaction, latching on, infant's feeding desire, and breastfeeding positioning. The seven factors explained 65.1% of total variance, Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ of the total items was .83 and the factors ranged from .44 to .75. Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that breastfeeding effectiveness scale is a reliable and valid instrument to measure breastfeeding effectiveness of mothers in the early postpartum period.