Journal of Current Researches on Health Sector (J o C R e H e S) www.stracademy.com/jocheres ISSN: 2547-9636 doi: 10.26579/jocrehes_8.2.12 Individual Applications of Turkish Lactating Women to Increase the their Breastmilk Production Figen ALP YILMAZ 1 , Ayşe ŞENER TAPLAK 2 & Sevinç POLAT 3 Keywords Breastmilk, applications, cultural. Abstract Breastmilk is known to be the oldest food given to infants after birth. In cases when breastmilk is inadequate, mothers resort to a variety of practices to increase breastmilk supply. The sample of the study consisted of 323 breastfeeding mothers who had 0-6-month old babies and presented to Family Health Centers (FHC) in Yozgat. The data were collected by the questionnaire form. In this study, it was determined that the participants consumed plenty of liquids and breastfed their babies frequently to comply with the recommendations to increase their breastmilk production. They also resorted to the following cultural practices: eating nutritious foods such as grape molasses, figs, bulgur wheat pilaf, sweet, carob, legumes, walnuts, onions and compote, kaynar or herb teas. In the study, it was determined that, women resorted to various cultural feeding practices in addition to recommended practices to increase breastmilk production. Article History Received 9 Oct, 2018 Accepted 30 Dec, 2018 1. Introduction Breastmilk, the most basic right of every newborn, is the ideal food for the baby’s optimal growth and development (Mosca & Lorella, 2017; WHO, 2012). The World Health Organization suggest that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months and then until the age of two, their diet should include complementary foods in addition to breastmilk (WHO, 2009). On the other hand, breastfeeding rates both in Turkey and in the other countries of the world are not at the desired level. Over two-thirds deaths occurring worldwide during the first year of life of children are often associated with inappropriate feeding practices, especially due to poor exclusive breastfeeding practices. Only 43% of newborns worldwide are breastfed within the first hour of life and only 40% of babies younger than six months of age are exclusively breastfed (Factsheet, 2014). According to the latest data in Turkey, only 58% of babies exclusively breastfed in the first two months after birth and this rate decrease to 10% in the 4-6 months postpartum (Turkey Demographic and Health Survey-TNSA 2013). However, in addition to all the known benefits of breastfeeding for infants, recent studies have 1 Assist. Prof, RN. Bozok University, School of Health 2 Assist. Prof, RN. Bozok University, School of Health, hem.ayse_3886@hotmail.com 3 Corresponding Author. Prof. PhD, RN. Bozok University, School of Health Year: 2018 Volume: 8 Issue: 2 For cited: Alp Yılmaz, F., Şener Taplak, A. & Polat, S. (2018). Individual Applications of Turkish Lactating Women to Increase the their Breastmilk Production. Journal of Current Researches on Health Sector, 8 (2), 121-134. Research Article/Araştırma Makalesi