Effects of an educational technology on self-efficacy for breastfeeding and practice of exclusive breastfeeding^*

ABSTRACT

Objective  To evaluate the effects of using a flipchart (serial album) on maternal self-efficacy in breastfeeding and its effects on exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in children’s first two months of life.

Method  Clinical trial in Recife, Northeastern Brazil, with 112 women in the third trimester of gestation, randomly distributed in intervention group (IG) and control group (CG). The intervention was the use of the flipchart in IG. Data collection was performed through interviews in the prenatal period, and telephone contact at second, fourth and eighth weeks postpartum. The Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale-Short-Form (BSES-SF) was used to measure self-efficacy scores. In the analysis, was used descriptive, bivariate statistics through tests of comparisons of proportions and means, and relative risk assessment.

Results  There was a statistically significant difference in mean values of self-efficacy scores between women in the IG and CG (p<0.001) and in EBF rates (p<0.001). The probability of exclusively breastfeeding in IG was twice as high than in CG (RR 2.2, CI 1.51-3.21).

Conclusion  The use of a flipchart as an educational tool had positive effects on self-efficacy scores for breastfeeding and in maintenance of EBF in the IG. Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials: RBR-5N7K99.

Breast Feeding; Self Efficacy; Educational Technology; Health Education; Maternal-Child Nursing