Investigating the relationship between socio-economic status, breastfeeding self-efficacy, and breastfeeding duration for working and non-working mothers

Abstract

The aim of this current study was to investigate the relationship between Breastfeeding Self-efficacy and Socioeconomic status, Breastfeeding duration for working and non-working mothers. A quantitative research about breastfeeding was conducted using structured questionnaires and consisted of demographic questions and scale measuring breastfeeding self-efficacy (BSES-SF). Three hundred and thirteen participants from breastfeeding Facebook communities took part in the study, of which 231 were working mothers and 81 was non- working. The predictor variable were the subject’s socioeconomic status and employment status, and the criterion variables were breastfeeding self-efficacy scores and breastfeeding duration. The results reported that there was a significant relationship between breastfeeding duration and employment status. It was apparent that non-working mothers were more likely to breastfeed their infants for a longer period than working mothers. In comparison the relationship between breastfeeding self-efficacy, duration and socio-economic status showed no significant difference.