Women's Experience of Exclusive Breastfeeding: Pre and Post COVID-19

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 15 kamal Hassan Ali St. Sheraton El Nozha

2 Woman's health and midwifery nursing ,Faculty of Nursing ,Mansoura University ,Mansoura ,Egypt

3 Lecturer of Woman’s Health and Midwifery Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Mansoura

Abstract

Aim: The study aimed to assess women’s experience of exclusive breastfeeding pre and post COVID-19. Method: a qualitative design used a phenomenological exploratory approach was utilized. Study subjects: A non-probability purposive sample of 50 postpartum lactating women attended their appointment in the breastfeeding clinic at Dr. Soliman Fakeeh Hospital (DSFH), Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Data collection tools: Two tools were used: A structured interview questionnaire for demographic, reproductive, medical and infants’ data & An in-depth open-ended interview to assess women’s experience regarding exclusive breastfeeding. Results: women’s experience pre and post COVID19 is totally different from women perspectives. Regarding women Previous experience, not all women had exclusive breastfeeding. The studied women were exclusive as they all delivered in DSFH, and many of them reported that the lactation consultant was very helpful and supportive. Furthermore, the majority of them reported that they followed the recommended PPE before infant’s feeding. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic surprisingly enhances women’s positive breastfeeding experience. Presence of lactation consultant, support from healthcare team, quarantine, limited visitors, presence of husband, encouraged women to complete breastfeeding. While, limited personnel postnatal visits, fear of infection, psychological concerns were the major difficulties during the pandemic. Recommendation: Virtual breastfeeding educational classes should be continued during the pandemic and after to provide an accurate information, correcting misbelieves, and psychologically supporting lactating mother.

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