In this study, the effect of breastfeeding counseling on clinical practice was investigated in well-baby clinics of two university hospitals in Ankara and Kayseri. The sample of our study included mothers of 15-90-day-old babies who applied for child health follow-up visits in Hacettepe University and Erciyes University between January 2009 and May 2009 and accepted to be involved in the study. Mothers were interviewed using a questionnaire. It was revealed that 98.6% of the mothers were followed up during their pregnancy, and all labors occurred in hospitals. While 24% of the mothers received breastfeeding counseling during their pregnancy, 65.3% of the mothers received counseling in the hospital after labor. Counseling rate was higher in public institutions compared to private institutions (p<0.05). Although breastfeeding counseling training for health personnel was implemented country-wide 19 years ago, the rate of providing breastfeeding counseling among the mothers in the two reference university hospitals was inadequate. We suggest that breastfeeding counseling training should be continued, with a special emphasis on private health institutions, and should be assessed as a part of the routine health care.

Keywords: emzirme, emzirme danışmanlığı.