Relationship of Spiritual Health and Perceived Stress with Breastfeeding Self-efficacy: A Survey on Mothers with Hospitalized Neonates

Positive outcomes of breastfeeding on both mothers and neonates health are inevitable. Mother selfefficacy has a constructive role on initiating and continuing breastfeeding, in turn, it is influenced by
several factors. The present study aimed to determine some risk factors associated with breastfeeding
self-efficacy of mothers with hospitalized newborns.
Materials and Methods
This descriptive-correlational study was carried out on 150 eligible mothers who were selected from
Motahhari Hospital of Urmia in 2016, using consecutive sampling. Data was collected using
questionnaires such as Demographics, Paloutzian and Ellison the Spiritual Health Scale (PESHS),
Cohen’s Perceived Stress (PSS), and Dennis Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (BSEF). Descriptive
(mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (ANOVA, Independent t-test, Pearson’s
correlation coefficient and multiple regressions) were used to analyze the data in SPSS software under
windows with version 16.
Results: The results showed that the mean and standard deviation of breastfeeding self-efficacy score
were 128.95±17.84, respectively. The final multivariate regression model showed that the variables of
spiritual health (p=0.01, β =0.208, t=2.54), perceived stress (p=0.03, β = -0.173, t=-2.18), and
monthly income (p=0.01, β=0.214, t=2.55), had statistically significant relationships with
breastfeeding self-efficacy. No significant relationships were observed between self-efficacy and
other demographic variables (p>0.05).
Conclusion
The study suggests that breastfeeding self-efficacy of mothers was influenced by spiritual health,
perceived stress, and economic status. Hence, it is recommended and emphasized that health care
providers consider these factors in designing their health interventions regarding breastfeeding.