relations between breastfeeding self-efficacy and maternal health literacy among pregnant women

Background: the world health organization have undertaken efforts to protect, promote and support exclusive breastfeeding, many researches show breastfeeding self-efficacy is important for improving breastfeeding outcomes, although other factors can affect it. aim: the purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between breastfeeding self-efficacy and maternal health literacy among pregnant women referred to health centers of mashhad in 2015. method: this cross-sectional study was carried out in mashhad health center in 2015. 185 pregnant women with primiparous women were selected multistage cluster method. data were collected through health literacy maternal questionnaire and breastfeeding self-efficacy questionnaire and analyzed by chi-square, student’s t-test, one-way anova, pearson’s correlation coefficient and general linear model in the spss/16. results: the mean age of the participants was 24.9±5.0 years. the mean and standard deviation score of women's breastfeeding self-efficacy were 120.5 ± 11.7 respectively. no significant relationship was observed between the mean score of breastfeeding self-efficacy and educational level, monthly income, occupational status, as well as educational level and occupational status of spouses. the results general linear model showed that the only variable that significantly associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy was maternal health literacy (b=0/94, se=0/14, p<0.001). implications for practice: given the results of the present study, implementing training programs incorporating self-efficacy and strategies of health literacy in health centers can promote the abilities of mothers regarding exclusive breastfeeding.