Investigating the Effect of Post-Delivery Telephone Counseling on the Rate of Exclusive Breastfeeding Among Infants

Abstract

Background: Owing to the crucial role of nutrition with breast milk for both the mother and infant, the implementation of programs that support breastfeeding seems essential. Objectives: This study aims to determine the effect of post-delivery telephone counseling on the rate of exclusive breastfeeding among infants. Methods: This study, as a randomized clinical trial, investigated 170 women who delivered their children in the Sabzevar Shahidan Mobini hospital, Iran in 2017. After acquiring the written informed consent, the researchers randomly assigned the subjects into two groups, including the telephone counseling recipient group (intervention) and the telephone counseling non-recipient group (control). The data collection instruments were questionnaires and checklists. The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS 18 software. Results: The findings of the study showed that 73.8% of the counseling non-recipient group had exclusive breastfeeding, and 26.2% did not have exclusive breastfeeding. In the telephone counseling recipient group, 90.4% exclusively breastfed their infants, while 9.6% did not. Thus, there was a statistically significant difference between the two understudy groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: This research revealed that although mothers were trained how to breastfeed when they were pregnant or were discharged from hospitals, and exclusive breastfeeding was emphasized, implementing the counseling program, even telephonic, and responding mothers’ questions regarding breastfeeding and prevalent problems in this period could be helpful in the first two months after delivery.