The relationship between perceived social support and insufficient milk supply in primiparous mother.
İrem Bengisu Öcal, Tuba Güner Emül
PMID 40743529WHAT IT FOUND
Primiparous mothers who felt more socially supported also felt their milk supply was adequate.
This was a cross-sectional survey, so it does not show that support caused adequate milk supply.
Key findings
01Higher total social support scores were positively associated with higher milk perception scores (r = 0.40, p < 0.001), which means more support was associated with greater perceived milk adequacy.
02Family support was the highest subscale (22.83) and significant other support was the lowest (15.09).
03Midwives or nurses provided 74.2% of first breastfeeding assistance and 90.1% of breastfeeding training in this sample.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used purposive sampling from one hospital outpatient clinic in Adana, so the mothers may not represent other Turkish or international postpartum populations. It measured perceptions at one time point, so it cannot show that social support caused adequate milk perception or improved breastfeeding. All measures were self-reported questionnaires, and the milk perception score is a perception, not an objective assessment of milk volume or infant nutrition. The participants were married primiparous mothers with infants up to six months, so results may not apply to unmarried mothers, multiparous mothers, or later postpartum periods.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that increasing social support will make primiparous mothers produce more milk or breastfeed successfully. The study measured perceived support and perceived milk adequacy at one time point, and the correlation does not show cause.