DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT MATERNAL BREASTFEEDING SELF-EFFICACY

Considering the individual characteristics of the nursing process and the relevance of an appropriate health education to women in the postpartum period, this study developed educational strategies that elevate the maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy. The aim of this study was validate educational technology to promote maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy. This study was a before-after quasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group, enrolling 201 mothers of a public hospital located in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Data collection occurred from May 2010 to May 2011 in four steps: (1) Application of Brazilian version of Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale - Short-Form (BSES-SF, Dennis, 2003), and sociodemographic and clinical obstetric forms to the intervention and control groups, (2) the educational intervention individual through the flipchart "I can breastfeed my son" in the intervention group. This educational technology underwent evaluation by 10 judges, resulting in the Content Validity Index of .92 compared to .97 and figures about the chip-script, (3) application of the BSES-SF to mothers before discharge in both groups, (4) application of the scale again with mothers in the intervention and control groups, with two months postpartum, by telephone contact. The results showed that the groups are similar because the sociodemographic, health, gynecological, and obstetrical showed no statistical difference. There was no statistically significant association between the intervention and control groups in relation to the BSES-SF scores, while they were interned in the housing, although the scores were higher in the first. However, two months postpartum, these differences were statistically significant (p <.0021), revealing that the educational intervention using the flipchart favored maternal self-efficacy. The relationship between breastfeeding and changes in the BSES-SF scores it can be verified statistically significant association (p <.001), demonstrating that the intervention group, 100% of women surveyed remained breastfed at all times, while in the control group this rate decreased to 41% in the second month postpartum. The educational intervention using the flipchart "I can breastfeed my son" promoted the high maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy, and longer duration of breastfeeding.