The Effect of Breastfeeding Intervention on Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Among Mothers in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy: Application of the Transtheoretical Model

The practice of breastfeeding among mothers is affected by their knowledge of, and attitude to, it. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of intervention, using the transtheoretical model (TTM), on the knowledge, attitude and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among pregnant women in the third trimester referred to Golestan University of Medical Sciences in hospitals in 2021.

This quasi-experimental intervention was conducted on 120 pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 60) or a control (n = 60) group using the permuted block randomization. The data collection tools were a two-part questionnaire to collect data on demographic and obstetric characteristics and a researcher-made questionnaire based on the TTM. Due to the coronavirus Epidemic the education was conducted partly face-to face in five 30-minute sessions three times a week observing the health protocols and partly virtually via WhatsApp and Telegram messenger (audio file, video tutorial, electronic pamphlets and posters). The data collected one and six months after the intervention were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16, the tests being descriptive and inferential tests.

The mean scores of knowledge, attitude, practice and the TTM constructs were not statistically significant between the intervention and control groups before the education intervention. One and six months after the intervention the mean scores of knowledge, attitude and practice and the TTM constructs, as well as perceived barriers and benefits in decision-making and self-efficacy were found to be significantly different between the intervention and control groups (p< 0.001).

Based on the findings it seems that breastfeeding education of pregnant women based on the transtheoretical model can improve their knowledge, attitude and practice as regards exclusive breastfeeding.