Utvärdering av Sensus amningsutbildning för blivande föräldrar
ABSTRACTStatistics show that breastfeeding prevalence for Sweden has fallen since the mid 90´s. Studies show that breastfeeding offers health benefits to both mother and child and that the mothers' belief and confidence in their ability to breastfeed is a key factor to having a positive breastfeeding outcome. In 2010, Amningshjälpen in collaboration with Sensus studieförbund, started a nursing course, for mothers-to-be, who wished to breastfeed their babies and its aim was to prepare them for a successful and enjoyable experience.Objective: To examine whether a preparatory breastfeeding course can affect mothers' confidence in their ability to breastfeed and if that ability can affect the breastfeeding outcome when the child reaches four months. A further aim is to investigate the experience of perceived problems surrounding breastfeeding and what affect these might have on the mothers' confidence in breastfeeding when the child reaches four months.Design/Methods: A quantitative approach with prospective experimental design was used to evaluate the study. The questionnaire Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form (BSES-SF) was used three times to measure women's trust in lactation. The first and second assessment were performed prenatally and a third when the child was four months old.Results:Sensus breastfeeding course was shown to raise women's average BSES -SF, from 43,14 before training to 55,86 after (p> 0.001). The third assessment, taken when the child has reached four months, provided a positive result on the mothers confidence to breastfeed compared to the results from the two prenatal assessments (m =58.98) (p <0.001). The breastfeeding rate of the women who participated in the study was high in percentage terms if compared to average situation in Sweden. The higher the mothers estimated problems around the child regarding wailing, sleeping and eating, the lower they estimated their self-efficacy regarding breastfeeding in the assessment at four months of age (p <0.001).Conclusion: The study demonstrates that a preparatory breastfeeding course in pregnancy increased women's confidence in their ability to breastfeed, and the breastfeeding rate within the study when the babies were four months old was high compared to the national Swedish statistics. The study also shows that women who estimated low on self-efficacy experienced more problems with their child at around the age of four months. All mothers´ rated their partners as most important support person whilst breastfeeding and in second place came The Sensus nursing course.