The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Breastfeeding Success in Lactating Mothers

Introduction: Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to promote children's health. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between emotional intelligence and success of breastfeeding. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional study in referring of multiple health centers in Shiraz, sample of 150 mothers with children aged one to three 3 years were selected using convenience sampling method and divided to breast fed and formula fed children groups, they obtained Bar-on and demographic questionnaire .Data were analyzed by SPSS software and Significant level for all tests was considered as 5%. Results: Mean age of mothers was 28.8±4.3 and the mean age of children was 19.80±5.8 years in breast fed and  18.98±6.25 in formula fed infants (p=0.406)   ; 45.3% of them were high school graduates or low literate, and the rest of them were college educated. 71.3% of the women were housewives and most of them were nulliparous. 71.3% of all women had cesarean delivery. The mean duration of breastfeeding in children  were 14.80±4.35 month in breast fed and  3.98±1.25 month in formula fed infants (p