The Attitudes and Practices Among Neonatal Nurses Regarding Breastfeeding Support in The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit During Covid-19

Abstract

Objective: Neonatal nurses have a main role which include promote and facilitate breastfeeding in in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). This study was conducted to determine the practices and attitudes of nurses towards breastfeeding support, which has critical importance in breastfeeding for newborns hospitalized in NICU during the Covid-19 pandemics. Material and method: The study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey design conducted with 252 nurses who were members of the Neonatology Nurses Society. The Data Collection Form, Survey Questionnaire, and the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS) were used for data collection. Results: The IIFAS median score of the participants was 70.0 (IQR=9.0). Statistically differences in the IIFAS scores were found according to age (χ2=11.703, p=0.008), education status in nursing (χ2=9.257; p=0.01), and status of attending to international scientific meetings (Z=-2.360; p=0.018). Participants who were age between 26-30 years (n=76, 30.2%), had post-education degree in nursing (n=32, 12.7%), and attended to international scientific meetings (n=47, 18.6) had higher positive attitudes of breastfeeding. The nurses (n=126, 50%) stated that it was difficult to reach mothers in terms of breastfeeding for newborns, and 61.8% of them (n=156) stated that they had difficulty initiating the mother-baby attachment process in the NICU. Conclusions: Although the attitudes of NICU nurses towards breast milk and breastfeeding were at a moderate level in our study, they struggled to support and maintain the lactation and they implemented to a number of supportive feeding practice in NICUs.