Abstract:
The quasi-experimental research was conducted to examine the effect of group
process on the rate and duration of breastfeeding in working women living in Bangkok
Metropolitan. Marram’s group process was used as the conceptual framework of this
study. The sample consisted of 52 working women who gave birth and came for
postpartum check-up at Sirindhorn Hospital, Department of Medical Services, Bangkok
Metropolis during January to September, 2007. The sample was equally divided into an
experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received a program
encountered group process provided by the researcher while the control group received
usual care from staff nurses. Instruments used for collecting data included the
Demographic Data Questionnaire and the Exclusive Breastfeeding Data Questionnaire.
The data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
The findings showed that at the 4th week after delivery, the rate of exclusive
breastfeeding in the experimental group was not different from the control group at the
significance level of 0.05. However, at the 12th week after delivery, the rate and
duration of exclusive breastfeeding in the experimental group were higher than the
control group at the significance level of 0.01.
Based on the results of this study, the group process should be used in working
women in order to promote continuous breastfeeding