The relationship between breastfeeding self-efficacy and gender roles in postpartum women

Breastfeeding self-efficacy is important for the achievement and maintenance of breastfeeding. For this reason, it is important to investigate the physical, psychological, social, and cultural factors that may affect breastfeeding self-efficacy. This study sought to investigate how gender roles affect breastfeeding self-efficacy. The study had a descriptive, cross-sectional, and co-relational design and was conducted on 213 postpartum women. The data collection tools of the study were the "Demographic Data Collection Form," "BEM Gender Roles Inventory" and "Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form." Percentages, means, and standard deviation served as the visual representation of descriptive statistics. The difference between the mean scores on the breastfeeding self-efficacy scale according to gender roles was investigated using one-way analysis of variance. In order to identify which measurement was the result of the difference, dependent groups underwent a t-test with Bonferroni correction. Among the women participating in the study, 39.9 percent had feminine, 35.2 percent androgynous, 14.1 percent masculine, and 10.8 percent ambiguous gender roles. It was concluded that women with androgynous gender roles have the highest level of breastfeeding self-efficacy in comparison other gender roles. Considering the inadequacy of education on breastfeeding or lack of counseling service providers for women's gender roles, there emerged a need for supportive care initiatives for the improvement of breastfeeding self-efficacy.