The Effect of a Breastfeeding and Infant Care Education Program Prepared According to Mercer Theory on Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy, Readiness for Infant Care, and Acceptance of the Maternal Role

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

• Ages 18 to 35 years
• Women only
• Healthy volunteers accepted
• Adult

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

About this study

Conditions

Pregnancy, Breastfeeding, Infant Care, Newborn Care, Theory, Maternal Health

Being tested

Education group, Control group

Medical subject headings

Breast Feeding

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

• Education groupBehavioural

  First stage: Pregnant women will be administered a "Personal Information Form," the "Prenatal Breastfeeding-Self-Efficacy Scale," the "Prenatal Hygiene Care Readiness Scale," and the "Prenatal Self-Assessment Scale-Maternal Role Acceptance Subscale." Second stage: In this stage, pregnant women will be given a 60-minute breastfeeding education session.

  Third stage: This stage will take place one week after the second stage, and pregnant women will receive baby care training. The training will be conducted face-to-face in the training room of the hospital where the study will be conducted, using the training manual prepared by the researchers according to Mercer's theory as a guide.

  Fourth stage: In this stage, pregnant women will again be administered the "Prenatal Breastfeeding-Self-Efficacy Scale," the "Prenatal Hygiene Care Readiness Scale," and the "Prenatal Self-Assessment Scale-Maternal Role Acceptance Subscale."

• Control groupBehavioural

  First stage: In this stage, pregnant women will be informed about the study and their voluntary written consent will be obtained. They will then complete a Personal Information Form, the Prenatal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale, the Prenatal Hygienic Care Readiness Scale, and the Prenatal Self-Assessment Scale-Maternal Role Acceptance Subscale.

  Second stage: Pregnant women will be administered the Prenatal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale, the Prenatal Hygienic Care Readiness Scale, and the Prenatal Self-Assessment Scale-Maternal Role Acceptance Subscale.

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

1. Pregnant Women's Readiness Scale for Newborn Hygienic Care

   The scale was developed by Çaka and Çınar in 2020 and consists of 10 items. The scale is a 7-point Likert-type scale, and each item is scored between 1 and 7, from "I'm not ready" to "I'm completely ready." The total scale score is obtained by summing the scores. The minimum score is 10 and the maximum score is 70. High scores indicate a high level of readiness for the pregnant woman. While the validity and reliability of the scale was conducted in primigravida pregnant women, it can also be used in multigravida pregnant women from the second trimester until birth. Scale score evaluation is as follows; 1-3 points: Not ready for hygienic care of the newborn, 4-5: Moderate readiness for hygienic care of the newborn, 6 and above: Readiness for hygienic care of the newborn. The Chronbach's Alpha value of the scale is 0.93 (Çaka et al., 2020).

   Measured: It was applied before and 1 week after the training.

2. Prenatal Breastfeeding-Self-Efficacy Scale

   It was developed by Wells et al. in 2006 to determine the perception of breastfeeding self-efficacy in pregnant women during the prenatal period (Wells et al., 2006). The validity and reliability of the Turkish version were conducted by Aydın and Pasinlioğlu. The Cronbach's Alpha value of the scale is 0.86. The scale consists of a total of 20 items. Each item of the scale is rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale: "1 = Not at all sure," "2 = Somewhat sure," 3 = Fairly sure," 4 = Very sure," and 5 = Absolutely sure." It has no sub-dimensions. It is evaluated based on a total score. The lowest score that can be obtained from the total scale is 20, and the highest score is 100. A higher score indicates an increase in the perception of breastfeeding self-efficacy (Aydın \& Pasinlioğlu, 2018).

   Measured: It was applied before and 1 week after the training.

3. Prenatal Self-Assessment Scale-Maternal Role Acceptance Subscale

   Developed by Lederman in 1979, it is a measurement tool used to assess pregnant women's adjustment to pregnancy and motherhood. The scale's validity and reliability study in Turkey was conducted by Beydağ and Mete (2008). The scale contains 7 subscales and 79 items. The internal consistency coefficient of the scale translated into Turkish was found to be Cronbach's alpha 0.81, and the internal consistency reliability coefficients of the subgroups ranged from 0.72 to 0.85 (Beydağ and Mete 2008). The 15-item Acceptance of the Motherhood Role subscale will be used in the study. Adjustment to pregnancy is assessed based on scores ranging from 1 to 4 (4: Very much describes, 3: Partially describes, 2: Somewhat describes, 1: Not at all describes). Scoring is reversed for reversed items. The lowest possible score from the maternal role acceptance subscale is 15, and the highest is 60. A low score indicates high compliance (Beydağ \& Mete, 2008).

   Measured: It was applied before and 1 week after the training.

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

1. First posted13 Aug 2025
2. Study start30 May 2025
3. Primary completion1 Jun 2025
4. Study completion28 Dec 2025 (estimated)

Resources

• Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
• Other trials for PregnancyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
• What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.