Effectiveness of Hoffman’s Exercise on Breastfeeding Among Postnatal Mothers with Flat or Inverted Nipple in Tertiary Care Hospital, Puducherry

Background: The ideal balanced diet for infants up to six months of age is breast milk. Breastfeeding depends upon the baby’s attachment with correct positioning to the mother’s breast, whereas the most common abnormalities of the nipple such as a flat and inverted nipple might be a barrier to breastfeeding. Hoffman’s exercise is a method for handling these issues.Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Hoffman’s exercise on breastfeeding among postnatal mothers with flat or inverted nipples.Materials and Methods: Pre-experimental one-group pre-test post-test design was adopted for this study. Fifty-six postnatal mothers with flat or inverted nipples admitted to a postnatal ward were selected by purposive sampling technique. Informed consent was obtained from the mothers. The socio-demographic data was collected by interview method and the Bristol breastfeeding assessment tool was used to assess the level of breastfeeding. Hoffman’s exercise was performed on the mothers from 0–3 postnatal days. The data analysis was done by using descriptive and inferential statistics.Result: The results showed that the pre-test and post-test mean and standard deviation values were 1.73 ± 1.104 and 6.39 ± 1.534 respectively. The obtained paired “t” test value was -35.02 and p < 0.001, which was highly statistically significant at p value < 0.001. It was inferred that Hoffman’s exercise was effective for breastfeeding among postnatal mothers with flat or inverted nipples.Conclusion: The study concluded that Hoffman’s exercise could be provided to postnatal mothers with flat or inverted nipples for effective breastfeeding of their newborns. How to cite this article:Preethi B, Annal M A, Lavanya S, Poongodi V, Umamaheswari R. Effectiveness of Hoffman’s Exercise on Breastfeeding Among Postnatal Mothers with Flat or Inverted Nipple in Tertiary Care Hospital, Puducherry. Chettinad Health City Med J. 2024;13(1):56-60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2278.2044.202410