International Journal of Pregnancy & Child Birth Research Article Open Access Fathers’ to be’ knowledge about breastfeeding Abstract Volume 4 Issue 6 - 2018 Aim: To assess Portuguese fathers’ knowledge on breastfeeding at 28-32 gestational Alexandrina Cardoso, 1 Abel Paiva E Silva, 1 weeks and to examine fathers’ knowledge in relation to socio-demographics and 2 paternal characteristics. Heimar Marin 1Nursing School of Porto, Portugal Design: A cross-sectional design was used. The face-to-face interviewing was used 2São Paulo Federal University, Brazil to collected data using a dichotomy clinical instrument composed by 18 knowledge breastfeeding descriptors that emerged from literature review and validated by a panel Correspondence: Alexandrina Cardoso, Escola Superior de of experts. The reliability was established using Kuder-Richardson Coefficient and it Enfermagem do Porto, Nursing School of Porto, Porto, Portugal, Email
[email protected] was 0.84. Setting: Health Centers in a region of North of Portugal. Participants: Participated in Received: January 01, 2018 | Published: November 06,2018 the study a convenience sample of 143 fathers. Key findings: More than 90% of fathers revealed lack of knowledge in 14 out of 18 subjects assessed. Age, education, parity, planned pregnancy showed no difference. The difference was observed in relation to prenatal decision to breastfeeding and in willingness to support breastfeeding mother. Conclusion: Fathers’ knowledge on breastfeeding is very poor and the prenatal involvement is relevant to pro-mote father knowledge to support breastfeeding mother. Future implications: There is a need to develop fathers’ knowledge to support mothers’ decisions and actions concerning to the breastfeeding. Thus, to contribute for breastfeeding success, the father must be considered as a client of care.