Effectiveness of Husbands' Support Exclusive Breastfeeding Facebook Programme During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The exclusive breastfeeding rate for six months in the Northeast region of Thailand has recently significantly decreased, in contrast to all other regions in Thailand. Facebook is widely used worldwide to enhance knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours that support breastfeeding. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a Facebook programme for husbands' support of exclusive breastfeeding during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We employed a quasi-experimental study design conducted from September 2020 to November 2021. Data were collected from two tertiary hospitals in Thailand, involving a total of 72 participants-36 in the experimental group and 36 in the control group. These participants were husbands of postpartum women admitted to the postpartum wards. Four research instrument were the demographic questionnaire, the Husband's EBF Knowledge, Husband's EBF Attitude, and Husband's EBF Behavior Questionnaires. Demographic data were analysed using frequency distribution, percentages, and the Chi-square test. The mean difference in husbands' exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) knowledge scores was analysed using an independent samples t-test.

At baseline, there was no significant difference in husbands' exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) knowledge scores between the experimental and control groups (p = 0.82). By the 1st month, there was a significant difference in the mean scores of husbands' EBF knowledge between the two groups (p < 0.01). However, the mean score of attitude at 6-month (mean=108.03, SD=19.89) was higher than the mean score of behaviour at baseline (mean=101.81, SD=17.99), but it was not significant (p=0.40). In addition, the different score of behaviour among baseline (mean=65.86, SD=7.02) and 6-month (mean=68.58, SD=10.42) was not significant (p=0.24).

The findings suggest that the Facebook programme is an effective platform for conveying exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) knowledge to husbands in Northeast Thailand during the COVID-19 pandemic.