Abstract:

Aim: This research It was planned to examine insufficient milk perception of mothers during lactation in terms of different variables. Method: The sample of the descriptive study consisted of 420 mothers who met the sampling criteria of mothers with babies of 0-24 months who came to the Obstetrics Outpatient Clinic of a foundation university hospital between October 2020 and March 2021 for control. The data were collected using the "Mother Information Form" which is developed by the researchers and "Perceived Insufficient Milk Quetionnaire". In the evaluation of the data, mean, percentage, standard deviation, Mann Whitney U test and Kruskall Wallis test were used in the SPSS package program. Results: The average age of the mothers within the scope of the study was 30.80 ± 7.31, the mean month of babies / children was 7.96 ± 6.48, the mean duration of breastfeeding the baby / child was 6.49 ± 5.19. The total score average of the Mothers' Perceived Insufficient Milk Quetionnaire (PIMQ) was found to be 38.71 ± 11.62. Mothers' total PIMQ score average and educational status (p: .002), desire and planning pregnancy (p: .000), week of birth (p: .000), mode of delivery (p: .016), receiving training on breastfeeding during pregnancy (p:. : .018), baby's birth weight (p: .000) and first postnatal breastfeeding time (p: .000), while the number of pregnancies (p: .329) and receiving postpartum breastfeeding training (p: .595) there was no significant relationship between. Conclusion and Suggestions: Although mothers' perception of milk is above average, it is not at the desired level. Organizing trainings for mother and baby / child health, starting from the pre-lactation period, including the husband or a higher generation social supporter, will be effective in developing positive beliefs and attitudes towards breastfeeding.

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