Maternal satisfaction with breastfeeding in the first month postpartum and associated factors

Abstract

Background:Breastfeeding success has been measured based on its duration, disregarding satisfaction with thematernal experience. Studies to investigate maternal satisfaction with breastfeeding are rare, especially in Brazil, andlittle is known about their determinants. The aim of this study was to measure the level of satisfaction withbreastfeeding in a group of women in the first month of their child’s life, and to identify factors associated withhigher maternal satisfaction.Methods:A cross-sectional study nested within a cohort was conducted with 287 women recruited at two (onepublic, one private) maternity services in the city of Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, from January to July 2016. Womenresiding in the municipality who had given birth to a healthy singleton born at term, were rooming in, and hadinitiated breastfeeding were randomly included. During the week after the child was 30 days old, women wereinterviewed at their homes to measure the level of maternal satisfaction with breastfeeding, using the MaternalBreastfeeding Evaluation Scale (MBFES), validated for use in the Brazilian population. Associations between maternalsatisfaction and explanatory variables were estimated using multivariate Poisson regression with robust variance ina four-level hierarchical approach. Satisfaction level was categorized using as cutoff point the median scoreobtained with the MBFES. Women with scores equal to or above the median were considered to have higher levelsof satisfaction, whereas those scoring below the median were considered to be less satisfied.Results:Maternal satisfaction with breastfeeding in the first month postpartum was high, with a median score of124 on MBFES, close to the maximum score (145 points). The prevalence of more elevated levels of satisfactionwith breastfeeding was higher among women with brown (pardo) and black skin color (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.33,95%CI 1.05;1.69), those who lived with the partner (PR 1.75, 95%CI 1.05;2.94), who planned to breastfeed for 12months or more (PR 1.48, 95%CI 1.02;2.17), and who did not report low milk supply (PR 1.47, 95%CI 1.03;2.10) orcracked nipples (PR 1.29, 95%CI 1.01;1.65).Conclusions:The factors associated with maternal satisfaction with breastfeeding in the first month postpartuminclude individual factors and maternal expectations, family constitution, as well as breastfeeding-related problems.