Abstract:

Aim: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding until 2 years of age or beyond. As there are no global scientific recommendations about when and how to wean, general acceptance is that gradual weaning could be less traumatic for baby-mother dyad. Our study aimed to determine the duration of breastfeeding, reasons for ending breastfeeding and weaning practices in Turkish physician mothers. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with a web-based survey formed by the researchers. Survey asking about demographics, knowledge about WHO recommendations for breastfeeding and weaning reasons and practices in detail was electronically delivered to Turkish physician mothers over the electronic social platform group ‘physician mothers’, which had 14600 members. Results: Replies from 195 physician mothers showed a mean breastfeeding duration of 23.26±7.01 months. Almost half of the children were breastfed beyond 24 months. The main reason for ending breastfeeding was observed as thinking that breastfeeding duration was sufficient. The most common method used for weaning was talking to the child and weaning gradually. However, it was observed that 34.2% still used traditional methods, such as applying foreign substances to breasts which could cause abrupt weaning. Conclusion: In our study, physician mothers had a longer breastfeeding duration than general population and traditional weaning practices were seen in a lower ratio in this group than in general population. On the other hand, our results show that physicians still need more education about breastfeeding beyond two years of age and weaning practices. Moreover, more studies are needed in the literature about short and long term effects of weaning practices.

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