The Effect of Health Literacy Level on Postpartum Maternal Adaptation

Authors

  • Çiğdem KARAKAYALI AY
  • Çiğdem ERDEMOĞLU Adıyaman University
  • Yeşim AKSOY DERYA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7460153

Keywords:

Health Literacy, Postpartum Self-Evaluation, Puerperants

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of health literacy level on postpartum maternal adaptation.

Material and Method: A total of 314 postpartum mothers participated in this cross-sectional research. The data was collected using the Personal Information Form, the Health Literacy Scale (HLS), and the Postpartum Self-Evaluation Questionnaire (PSEQ). In the statistical evaluation, descriptive statistics (number, percentage, mean, standard deviation) and Pearson correlation analysis were employed.

Results: The mean age of the women who participated in the study was 28.00±5.41 years. It was determined that 73.2% of the women had a nuclear family structure, 69.1% of the women's income was equal to their expenses, 72.3% had a planned and desired pregnancy, 81.5% went for prenatal care checks regularly, 85.7% did not attend childbirth-preparation class, and 90.1% of births of them attended by a midwife. The women's total scores of the HLS and PSEQ were 105.21±15.17 and 135.19±27.38, respectively. It was found that there was a weak significant correlation between the total scores of the HLS and PSEQ and all of their sub-dimensions, with the exception of the sub-dimensions of access to information in the HLS and satisfaction with the birth experience in the PSEQ, and that postpartum adaptation increased as the level of health literacy increased (p<0.001, p<0.05).

Conclusion: It was found that as the level of health literacy increased in women in the postpartum period, the level of postpartum adaptation to motherhood also increased. The health literacy level of women can make easier their adaptation to motherhood in the postpartum period.

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Published

2022-12-20

How to Cite

KARAKAYALI AY , Çiğdem, ERDEMOĞLU, Çiğdem, & AKSOY DERYA , Y. . (2022). The Effect of Health Literacy Level on Postpartum Maternal Adaptation. WORLD WOMEN STUDIES JOURNAL, 7(1), 99–107. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7460153

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