Effecttiveness of WhatsApp Group on Breastfeeding Practices

Abstract

Background: Breastmilk is the ideal food for newborn, but in the first days of birth are vulnerable for babies
to be given prelactal food by mother and families. The Successful of exclusive breastfeeding related to
various factors including media exposure. Mothers who are exposed to the media have more opportunities
to give exclusive breastfeeding. WhatsApp in a new trend in communication method for giving information
to the public.
Objective: This study aims to determine the Effectiveness of WhatsApp Group Towards Pregnant woman
in The Practice of First Week Breastfeeding in Palangkaraya
Methods: This study is a quasi-experimental study with posttest only with control group design. Purposive
sampling technique was used in this study, consisted 36 respondent who were divided into two groups.
Analysis were performed by chi-square test.
Result: The results showed the average age of respondents was 26.94 years. Most of the respondents were
housewives or unemployed (63.9%), had high and middle education (88.9%) and had high family income
(77.7%). Based on statistical test results, WhatsApp Group is effectively used to improve breastfeeding
behavior of mothers in the first week after birth (p <0.05).
Conclusion: Health workers are expected to be able to use WhatsApp Group as a health education media on
breastfeeding to increase the scope of exclusive breast milk.