Pregnant Women’s Perceptions of Prenatal Attachment and Breastfeeding Self-Efficiency: A Cross-sectional Study

Purpose: The aim of this study is to assess pregnant women’s perceptions of prenatal attachment and breastfeeding self-efficacy. Material and Methods: The study was conducted with 320 pregnant women who visited the outpatient clinic of a Maternity Hospital in Turkey for control examination after the 20th gestational week between 01 February 2017 and 29 December 2017. Results: It was found that the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) total mean score of the pregnant women was 54.44±14.67 and the prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy scale (PBSES) mean score was 68.32±13.65. There was a positive correlation between PAI and PBSES scores of the pregnant women (p˂0.0001, r=0.817). Conclusion: Some sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics of the pregnant women were determined to affect both prenatal attachment and prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy levels.