Interventions of Health Visitors in Making a Decision About Breastfeeding

Sa？etak Aim: The aim of this paper was to establish a link between the promotion of breastfeeding and the interventions of the visiting nurse. Methods: The study was conducted in 2012 in the city of ？akovo and the surrounding area. The questionnaire was filled out by mothers after leaving the maternity ward, during the first visit of the community health nurse within the first seven days after the labor. Results: From a total of 154 parturient women who filled in a survey after they had left the hospital, the decision about breastfeeding before the pregnancy was made by 58.4% of examinees. Primiparas from the city were older than primiparas from the surrounding rural area (p<0.001). Mothers received the majority of information about the proper placement of the child on the chest after birth from nurses in the maternity hospital (56.3% of the examinees). The study showed that 57.9% of the examinees had the support of their husband during lactation. The visiting nurses’ first visit was within seven days after delivery at the home of 121 (78.6%) examinees, showing good awareness and collaboration between secondary and primary health care. Conclusion: This research has confirmed that breastfeeding promotion and nursing interventions have a major impact on breastfeeding