The Effect of Stress Inoculation Training on Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy and Perceived Stress of Mothers With Low Birth Weight Infants: A Clinical Trial

Mothers with low birth weight infants experience more stress, which results in reduced breastfeeding self-efficacy and exclusive breastfeeding; In this regard, stress Inoculation Training (SIT) is one of the effective ways for inoculation against stress and psychological distress; Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of SIT on breastfeeding self-efficacy and perceived stress of mothers with low birth weight infants. This clinical trial study was conducted from October to December 2017 on 100 mothers with low birth weight infants; the infants had been hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Kermanshah, Iran. The eligible mothers were randomly divided into two groups, i.e., intervention (n = 50) and control (n = 50) groups. The mean score of breastfeeding self-efficacy, before SIT (33.82 ± 8.92) compared to after SIT (42.02 ± 8.83), significantly increased (p < 0.001), though no statistically significant difference was reported in the control group (p > 0.05). The mean score of perceived stress was significantly reduced after SIT (26.29 ± 6.49) compared to values before SIT (31.25 ± 5.82) (p < 0.001). The present study showed that on the one hand, SIT can effectively increase the breastfeeding self-efficacy in mothers with low birth weight infants; on the other hand, it can reduce their perceived stress. Therefore, the need for holding in-service training courses is felt in order to train the caregiving personnel, especially nurses, in applying the SIT technique.