Fathers’ To Be’ Knowledge about Breastfeeding

Abstract

Aim: To assess Portuguese fathers' knowledge on breastfeeding at 28-32 gestational weeks and to examine fathers' knowledge in relation to socio-demographics and paternal characteristics. Design:A cross-sectional design was used. The face-to-face interviewing was used to collected data using a dichotomy clinical instrument composed by 18 knowledge breastfeeding descriptors that emerged from literature review and validated by a panel of experts. The reliability was established using Kuder-Richardson Coefficient and it was 0.84.Setting: Health Centers in a region of North of Portugal. Participants: Participated in the study a convenience sample of 143 fathers. Key findings:More than 90% of fathers revealed lack of knowledge in 14 out of 18 subjects assessed. Age, education, parity, planned pregnancy showed no difference. The difference was observed in relation to prenatal decision to breastfeeding and in willingness to support breastfeeding mother. Conclusion:Fathers' knowledge on breastfeeding is very poor and the prenatal involvement is relevant to pro-mote father knowledge to support breastfeeding mother. Future implications: There is a need to develop fathers' knowledge to support mothers' decisions and actions concerning to the breastfeeding. Thus, to contribute for breastfeeding success, the father must be considered as a client of care. Keywords: Breastfeeding; Paternal knowledge; Assessment IntroductionThe decision to breastfeed is important both for the child and the mother. Therefore, mother and father should be engaged in the decisions related to their child, namely the decision to breastfeed. Breastfeeding is a process that needs to be learned by mothers and fathers. Although fathers do not breastfeed, their emotional, practical and physical support is critical factors to promoting successful breastfeeding [1][2][3][4]. Based in a literature review [5], identify that fathers influence the breast-feeding decision, assistance at first feeding, and duration of breastfeeding.There is strong evidence that fathers can influence the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] contributes to maternal breastfeeding confidence [13][14][15][16] and influence decisions regarding duration and weaning [8]. Without fathers' support, mothers are more likely to breastfeed for a shorter duration [17,18]. When fathers are not supportive, breastfeeding rates are lower [19].Some authors have suggested that the baby's father is one of the most influential persons to the mother decisions and actions, and that he can act as either key supporter or deterrent to the breast-feeding process [20]. However, many fathers lack the awareness of their relevance to breastfeeding success. This notion was confirmed by a study that involved mothers and fathers who attended antenatal interventions. The authors found that the maternal and paternal learning interests during pregnancy were super imposable, except for learning needs associated with breastfeeding. In fact, mothers ranked breastfeeding learning ...

The participation of fathers in breastfeeding process: knowledge, beliefs, and practices in Kisumu, Kenya

“…Educating fathers about the benefits of breastfeeding has an effect on the number of mothers choosing to breastfeed; this education is recommended to take place during the antenatal period and the baby's first quarter [11]. Pre-intervention, fathers' knowledge on breastfeeding was low on aspects of exclusive breastfeeding, similar to results of a crosssectional study done involving 143 fathers at health centers in the region of North Portugal indicating a significant lack of breastfeeding knowledge among fathers during pregnancy [12]. In our study, fathers in the intervention group received nutrition education with their expectant partners' antenatal visits, resulting in significantly more fathers in the intervention group being knowledgeable about breastfeeding than the control group post-intervention.…”

Nutrition education strategy with father involvement to improve infant feeding practices in Kisumu, Kenya.

“…Similar to our study at baseline, a cross-sectional study was done in Brazil that assessed paternal breastfeeding knowledge during pregnancy. The findings showed a lack of breastfeeding knowledge among the fathers with a specific knowledge deficit on how to manage breastfeeding complications, promote lactation and assure a proper latch [16]. Our findings indicated an increase in knowledge on infant feeding by fathers when fathers were exposed to nutrition education.…”

Effectiveness of breastfeeding interventions delivered to fathers in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A systematic review

“…The systematic review indicated that all of the studies were from middle‐income countries; no intervention studies focused on low‐income countries. According to Abera, Abdulahi, and Wakayo () and Cardoso, Silva, and Marin (), involving fathers in breastfeeding support significantly enhances mother's perceptions of breastfeeding and can potentially optimize breastfeeding rates, exclusivity, and duration. Therefore, with the changing role of fathers in low‐income countries, there is a potential opportunity for fathers to maximize the health of their children by supporting their partners using their breastfeeding knowledge to motivate and assist them to breastfeed (Rempel & Rempel, ).…”