How Does the Breastfeeding Environment Affect Satisfaction? A Scale Development Study.

BACKGROUND: Women need a safe and comfortable environment to breastfeed their babies. The quality of breastfeeding environments in social areas is important for women's breastfeeding satisfaction. AIM: The aim of this study was to develop a measurement tool for the evaluation of breastfeeding environments and to examine the impact of the quality of breastfeeding environments in social areas on breastfeeding satisfaction. METHOD: The first phase of the study was conducted in methodological design and the second phase in cross-sectional design. The draft scale was applied to 365 women who had breastfeeding experiences in social environments during the postpartum 6 months-3 years period. In the first stage, scale development analyses were applied. In the second stage, the developed scale was applied to 255 women. Frequency, percentage, Cronbach's α coefficient, and correlation analysis were used in the analysis of the data. RESULTS: The Ideal Breastfeeding Environment Assessment Scale, consisting of 23 items and four subdimensions, was obtained in the study. As a result of the application of the scale in the second stage, the mean score of the breastfeeding environments evaluated by the women was 23.43 ± 8.36. A statistically significant moderate-weak correlation was found between the ideality of breastfeeding environments and the satisfaction levels of women (p < .001). CONCLUSION: It was determined that the developed scale is a valid and reliable measurement tool that can be used to evaluate breastfeeding environments. As the quality of breastfeeding environments increases, women's breastfeeding satisfaction increases.

A mixed-design study on the development of birth unit assessment scale.

INTRODUCTION: This is a mixed design study planned to determine the views of women, midwives, and physicians about the ideal birth unit and to develop a to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool for postpartum women's evaluation of the effect of birth units in terms of physical, emotional, and social aspects on their satisfaction with the birth environment. METHODS: The exploratory sequential design, which is accepted as a mixed design, was used in the study. In the qualitative phase of the study, a content analysis was conducted by interviewing a total of 20 participants including 5 pregnant women, 5 postpartum women, 5 midwives and 5 obstetricians. In the quantitative phase, the Draft Birth Unit Satisfaction Assessment scale, which was developed in line with the data obtained as a result of the qualitative study, a literature review, and expert opinions, was used to evaluate postpartum women's (n = 435) satisfaction with the birth environment. Content validity, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis were used for the validity analyses of the scale, and item analysis, internal consistency, and time-dependent invariance were evaluated for reliability. RESULTS: In the qualitative phase of the study, the themes were grouped under 5 categories (physical features of the hospital, features of the birth room, privacy, aesthetics and support) according to the qualitative data on the factors that showed participants' views on the ideal birth unit. In the quantitative stage, the Birth Unit Satisfaction Assessment Scale, which consisted of 30 items and 5 sub-dimensions (communication and care, physical characteristics of the birth room, comfort, opportunities supporting birth, and decoration and aesthetics), was developed. DISCUSSION: In conclusion, it was determined that the scale developed in this study was a valid and reliable measurement tool that could be used to evaluate postpartum women's satisfaction with the birth environment.

Behavioral and hormonal effects of prenatal and maternal separation stresses in postpartum rats.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the hormone and anxiety levels of rat dams who were exposed to prenatal and maternal separation stress paradigms. Sprague-Dawley rat dams were divided into Prenatal Stress (PS), Maternal Separation (MS), Prenatal Stress and Maternal Separation (PS+MS), and Control (C) groups. All animals were subjected to the open field test on the 21st postnatal day. Same-day blood samples were obtained from the tail vein in order to examine corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), estradiol, oxytocin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, prolactin, progesterone, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), endorphin, and vasopressin levels of animals via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Oxytocin levels were the highest in the control group and the lowest in the MS group. CRH levels in the MS group were significantly higher than in the PS group (p < .05). Intriguingly, the BDNF level was the lowest in the control and highest in the MS group. While there was a strong correlation in the CRH, vasopressin, BDNF levels in the control group, various relations were observed in the stress groups. Stressed animals exhibited several behavioral anomalies including decreased fear responses such as freezing, enhanced duration, and increased number of entries into the central zone of the open field test apparatus. PS dams exhibited reductions in estradiol and norepinephrine levels relative to control or MS dams.

Perception of traumatic childbirth of women and its relationship with postpartum depression.

Traumatic birth has various effects on women, and postpartum depression is one of them. The present study had two aims: 1) to determine the level of traumatic childbirth perception and postpartum depression in women and the factors affecting them and 2) to reveal the relationship between traumatic childbirth perception and postpartum depression. Five hundred fifty women, recruited between March 2018 and February 2019, completed the following form and scales one month after delivery: the general and obstetric information form, the Perception of Traumatic Childbirth Scale (PTCS), and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). The mean PTCS scores of the women included in the study were 63.45 ± 28.116 with a median value of 65, and the prevalence of traumatic childbirth was 33.8%. The risk of postpartum depression was determined in 25.3% of the women. There was a significant relationship between the participants' traumatic childbirth perception and their EPDS scores (p < .05). It was determined that the probability of experiencing postpartum depression increased four to five times in women with a high or very high level of traumatic childbirth perception (OR = 4.31; CI 95% 1.912 to 9.701; p = .000)(OR = 5.57; CI 95% 2.090 to 14.818; p = .001). The findings revealed that one-third of the participant women had traumatic childbirth perception, and the risk of postpartum depression increased as the level of traumatic birth perception increased.

Stress caused by environmental effects on the birth process and some of the labor hormones at rats: ideal birth environment and hormones.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of environmental conditions on the birth hormones and the labor of rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This Study is animal experiment. A total of of 18 pregnant Sprague Dawley rats were divided into control, stress and enriched groups. Animals in the stress group were exposed to unexpected variable stress paradigm three times a day during the third trimester of their pregnancies. Whereas animals raised in the enriched environment were kept in larger cages equipped with various toys. They were subjected to open field test for 5 minutes in the last trimester. Blood samples were taken from the tail vein at the beginning of birth, and 10 parameters (including corticotropin-releasing hormone, oxytocin, endorphin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, prolactin, estrogen, progesterone, vasopressin, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor) involved in labor were assessed. Kruskal Wallis, Mann Whitney U, and Spearman's rho correlation analysis were used to compare data. RESULTS: Interactions of hormones were significantly different among the groups. While hormonal interactions in the control group were similar to the physiological parameters, other groups displayed various results. There were significant (p < .05) differences in the values of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and vasopressin hormone levels. In the open Field test, standing distribution scores of animals displayed differences among control, stress and enriched environment groups (p < .05). CONCLUSION: These results showed that labor environment diversely affects physiology aspects of birth. It is known that many factors such as procedures in a hospital environment, birth environment, noise, and birth position affect the hormones at birth. Therefore, the birth environment, either at home or at the hospital, needs to be well-organized accordingly.

How much do I belong to my profession? A scale development study: Midwifery Belonging Scale.

This study was planned with the purpose of developing a qualified professional belonging scale that may reveal the professional belonging levels of midwives. The study prepared a 30-item, 5-point Likert-type scale containing general question statements related to professional belonging that were prepared as a result of a literature review, focus group meetings and expert opinions. The scale was tested with 300 midwives who were employed in two provinces in Turkey. The obtained data were used to test the scale's validity and reliability. In the validity-reliability analysis of the scale, exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's alpha coefficient and item-total score correlation were used. As a result of the factor analysis and Varimax rotation, it was determined that the scale consisted of 22 items and had a four-factor structure that explained 63.846% of the total variance. The internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) of the scale was calculated as 0.905. It was determined that the scale which was named as the Midwifery Belonging Scale (MBS) is a valid and reliable instrument.

Educational Study to Increase Breast Cancer Knowledge Level and Scanning Participation among Women Working at a University.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to increase the participation level of women in screening programs by increasing the level of knowledge about early diagnosis and screening methods for breast cancer (BC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a pretest-posttest one group design study held in Eskisehir Osmangazi University, Turkey. The sample consisted of 405 women in all departments of the University. Data were collected using socio-demographic forms and questionnaires. Training about BC was provided for participants. The questionnaire used prior to the training to measure levels of knowledge about BC was re-administered 3 weeks after the training. RESULTS: The women were most commonly aware of the breast self-examination (68.1%). The ratio of women who had had mammography in the previous year was 11.4%. The BC knowledge level significantly increased after the training (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: This study determined that the level of knowledge about BC in terms of early detection and screening was low and that the percentage of participation in screening was also low.