The Effect of Postpartum Home Visit Programs on Continuation of Breast

Exclusive breast feeding during the first six months of life is the best infant nutrition. Success in breast feeding and continuation of it needs the support of health care personnel. For this reason postpartum home visits are important. This study was performed to assess the effect of postpartum home visits on continuation of berast feeding and weight gain of infants in Kerman. In this qusi- experimental study, 100 normal delivered primipara woman were divided into two equal groups. These groups were matched according to mother,s age, and education level, husban s jop and infant,s sex. For study group, six health care programs of home visits were designed in the third, tenth days and the end of first, second, third and fourth months of postpartum. Data were collected with questionaire and scale (for weighting infants).Date were amalysed by chi- square and T-Test. Infants nutrition and their weight gain in the first and second home visit,s which that were perfomed in third and tenth days of postpartum respectively,showed no signifcant differnce between the two groups,but in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth home visits that were performed out the end of first, second, third and fourth months of postpartum showed signfticant differcnce between the two groups (P<0.05). The results of this sludy indicated that it is likely postpartum home visits have a great impact on the continuation of breast feeding and infantweight gain.