PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Khresheh, Reham M. AU - Ahmed, Nagwa M. TI - Breastfeeding self efficacy among pregnant women in Saudi Arabia AID - 10.15537/smj.2018.11.23437 DP - 2018 Nov 01 TA - Saudi Medical Journal PG - 1116--1122 VI - 39 IP - 11 4099 - http://smj.org.sa/content/39/11/1116.short 4100 - http://smj.org.sa/content/39/11/1116.full SO - Saudi Med J2018 Nov 01; 39 AB - Objectives: To examine the association between prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy among Saudi pregnant women and type of feeding at 4 weeks post partum, and also to examine the association of maternal socio-demographic variables with the breastfeeding self-efficacy levels of Saudi pregnant women.Methods: A cross-sectional design has been applied in the study by recruiting 101 pregnant women from the General Hospital, Umluj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy scale was used to measure self-efficacy for breastfeeding during pregnancy. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, Pearson correlation coefficient were used for statistical purposes. A p-value ≤0.05 was considered significant.Results: The average breastfeeding self-efficacy score was 70±11.9. No significant relationship was existed between breastfeeding self-efficacy and the maternal sociodemographic variables. A significant relationship was found between type of feeding at 4 weeks postpartum and prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy (r=0.061, p<0.05). Women who exclusively breastfeed their babies had high scores on prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy scale than those who mixed feed or bottle feed their infants.Conclusion: Levels of prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy among Saudi pregnant women were high and can be predictive of breastfeeding exclusivity at 4 weeks postpartum. The prenatal breastfeeding self-efficacy could be used to measure whether the woman could organize and execute the causes of action needed to perform breastfeeding behavior.