ARE FATHERS PREPARED TO ENCOURAGE THEIR PARTNERS TO BREAST-FEED - A STUDY ABOUT FATHERS KNOWLEDGE OF BREAST-FEEDING

In order to study fathers' knowledge of breast feeding and its relatio nship with paternal factors, fathers of 92 breast feeding and 89 non-b reast feeding newborns were compared. Paternal factors included previo us children and the way they were fed, participation in prenatal care, attendance at prenatal classes, breast feeding information provided b y health professionals, use of reading materials and interest in learn ing more about the subject. The results indicated that fathers had poo r knowledge about breast feeding, especially those whose children were being bottle fed. After adjustments for confounders, fathers who had previous breast-fed child(ren), had attended prenatal classes and who received information about breast feeding from medical personnel had a significantly higher chance of having a better knowledge of breast fe eding. It seems that fathers need to be better prepared to assume thei r new role as breast feeding supporters. Prenatal care was shown to be a good opportunity to improve fathers' knowledge of breast feeding.