Health literacy of pregnant women and duration of breastfeeding maintenance: A feasibility study.

AIMS: Research the association between health literacy (HL) and exclusive breastfeeding at 4-months postpartum. BACKGROUND: Despite the benefits of breastfeeding (BF), its rates are low worldwide. Among the reasons for abandonment is the level of maternal education. Maternal education has been associated with HL, but evidence between HL and BF maintenance is limited. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. METHODS: The sample compromised 229 nursing mothers recruited from January 2018 to the end of December 2018 at Spain by systematic sampling method. Women were interviewed postpartum on parameters associated with the start and continuation of BF up to 4 months postpartum. Multivariate logistic regression models to explain exposure variables and exclusive BF cessation at 4 months. RESULTS: Approximately 10% of the participants had inadequate HL. Factors associated with early cessation of exclusive BF at 4 months in the multivariate model adjusted using a stepwise variable selection process based on a likelihood ratio test were civil status, risk of pregnancy, type of delivery, limited or inadequate level of HL, and LATCH score at discharge, with an 85.6% area under the ROC curve. CONCLUSIONS: Our study offers preliminary evidence regarding the hitherto inconsistent relation between HL and early cessation exclusive BF at 4 months, supporting the conduct of further studies with larger sample sizes and greater statistical power. Such studies are warranted before endorsing HL-based interventions aiming to mitigate early cessation exclusive BF. IMPACT: Low or inadequate HL is linked to multiple poor health and clinical outcomes. We investigated the prevalence of exclusive BF at 4 months postpartum, and the impact of HL in maintaining optimal exclusive BF practices. Limited or inadequate HL was one of the factors associated with early cessation of exclusive BF in the multivariate regression model, although further research is needed.

Changes in health sciences students' perception of obstetric violence after an educational intervention.

BACKGROUND: Obstetric violence is a type of gender-based violence that is presented structurally. This type of violence has physical and psychological consequences for both the women who experience it and health professionals. The World Health Organization adds that health professionals need training to ensure that pregnant women are treated with compassion and dignity. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to evaluate health sciences students' perception of obstetric violence and to identify possible changes after an educational intervention. DESIGN: A pre-post quasi-experimental study was carried out between January and June 2019. SETTINGS AND PARTICIPANTS: Students of medicine and nursing from Jaume I University (Universitat Jaume I) (Spain). METHODS: An ad hoc scale comprising 33 items was designed to measure the students' perceptions. In addition, sociodemographic and control variables were collected. Descriptive analyses of the sample and the scale were carried out, and a bivariate analysis was performed. RESULTS: Of the students surveyed, 89.7% were women, and the majority was nursing students. Of the 33 items, 28 (84.84%) showed statistically significant changes in the pre-post-intervention measurement. Twenty-five of the 33 items (75.75%) showed a relationship with the sociodemographic variables of gender, field, course and ever having been pregnant. CONCLUSION: This study shows the change in health sciences students' perceptions of obstetric violence after an educational intervention. In addition, the normalization of this type of violence was observed with the progression of training and with personal obstetric experience.