The mean age of the mothers and their spouses was 32.86–5.51 (min:25, max:44) and 35.60–3.69 (min:30, max:43), respectively. One of the participants (P11) had a stillbirth, and one (P5) had an abortion. Two mothers had chronic diseases (P1: Hypertension, P6: Asthma), and only four mothers (P4, P10, P11, P14) were vaccinated before getting infected with Covid-19 (Table 1).

Table 1 Some socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics of the mothers (n = 15)

All the mothers in the study breastfeed their babies regularly and generally every 2 h when the baby cried day and night in positions that the baby felt comfortable.

The interview results in this study, which evaluated the breastfeeding processes Covid-19 positive mothers were discussed under 3 main themes as follows: ‘The impact of Covid-19 on breastfeeding’, ‘Covid-19 induced anxiety during breastfeeding’ and ‘Methods of coping with anxiety an stress’.

In Fig. 1, six sub-themes that emerged under the impact of Covid-19 in the postpartum period on the breastfeeding process in line with the interviews with the mothers are presented. These sub-themes are increased frequency in breastfeeding, decreased frequency in breastfeeding, concern about transmission, isolation, cessation of breastfeeding, and expression of milk.

Fig. 1

The impact of Covid-19 on the breastfeeding

Examples of raw data under these sub-themes are given below

Increased frequency of breastfeeding; P1 ‘…I paid more attention to breastfeeding because my doctor told me to drink a lot of water and I did, so I breastfed more often. I mean, I never stopped, I never thought that I should not breastfeed because I was positive, I breastfed all the time’.

P11

‘There was no change in breastfeeding, even breastfeeding was more frequent. So, there was no change in the taste of the milk (laughing)’.

Decreased frequency in breastfeeding; P8 ‘Well, it was a little less at that time, for the first two days or so, then we went back to the routine’.

P9

‘It was a bit difficult because I was extremely nauseous, the baby wanted me, and I wanted the baby to breastfeed, but when the baby held my breast, I felt nauseous, and I wanted to vomit… You know that process exhausted me a lot. Two weeks exhausted me because I could not breastfeed my baby as comfortably as before’.

P13

‘Well, my daily breastfeeding decreased because I thought it would transmit with milk. Since I thought it would transmit with milk, my milk already decreased because I had anxiety, then I consulted my doctor, when I learned that it was not like this and it was transmitted through the respiratory tract, I started to give it by expressing it’.

Anxiety about transmission: P2 ‘Well, since my concerns increased during the infection period, I was expressing my milk because there might be a risk of contamination to the baby, and after waiting for a while, I was giving the milk to my baby. This happened every two/two and a half hours’.

P12

‘Of course, I had a great fear because I was infected… I did not want my baby to stop breastfeeding. Therefore, I tried to continue breastfeeding in the same way as I was breastfeeding before during the infection process… I was protected with a mask, that is, in one room. I had concerns because when you become a mother, you focus directly on your child, you forget everyone else. If something happens to me and they are left behind, that was my only concern…(sad)’.

P14

‘…Of course, I was wearing my mask with the concern that I would infect my children…I tried to breastfeed with a mask and less frequently to protect them, but I still breastfed frequently’.

Isolation: P5 ‘I used to breastfeed my baby on my lap, but after consulting our doctor, I breastfed my baby lying down instead of on my lap. I washed my hands and chest before breastfeeding and wore a double mask over my mouth and breastfed my baby that way’.

P3

‘… I continued breastfeeding by wearing my mask and not having very close one-to-one contact… I breastfed little by little and often, little by little to avoid too much contact, but I breastfed often, I did not neglect it… I preferred to breastfeed sitting down, keeping the distance, so that the less air contact the better’

Cessation of breastfeeding: P6 ‘My milk had decreased, and I was afraid that something would happen to my baby, it would get sick, so we stopped breastfeeding’.

Expression of milk; P10 ‘After getting infected, we switched breastfeeding to expressing milk. I was milking every two hours in the same way, we rented an electric milking machine and milked with it’.

P7

‘…because I thought that it would be transmitted with milk. My milk already decreased because I thought that it would be transmitted with milk, so I had anxiety, then I consulted my doctor, and when I learned that this was not the case, that it was transmitted through the respiratory tract, I started milking’.

Fig. 2

Causes of anxiety and stress due to Covid-19 experienced during breastfeeding

According to the data in the study, only one mother felt comfortable in this period and did not experience any anxiety. The causes of anxiety and stress in mothers with Covid-19 in the postpartum period were grouped under five sub-themes: anxiety about the health of the baby, mother’s anxiety about her health, anxiety about baby care, anxiety about decreased milk or not breastfeeding, and anxiety about the Covid-19 period (Fig. 2).

Examples of raw data under these sub-themes are given below

Anxiety about the health of the baby: P7 ‘I was very afraid that the baby would get infected through breastfeeding’.

P4

‘I had a lot of anxiety (frowns). I was already worried about whether the baby would suck before birth, anyway, we got over it, then I was Covid positive, I was very worried about whether the baby would be infected, it was difficult’.

P4

‘I had a lot of anxiety (frowns). I was already worried about whether the baby would suck before birth, anyway, we got over it, then I was Covid positive, I was very worried about whether the baby would be infected, it was difficult’.

P11

‘Well, there is always stress, especially if it will harm the child’.

Mother’s anxiety about her own health; P12 ‘I mean, I had a lot of anxiety and stress. Will I be intubated, that was always on my mind anyway’.

Anxiety about baby care; P12 ‘My worries were mostly about who would look after my children if something happened to me. Maybe if I were single, I would not think about these things, I would probably think about other things’.

P1

‘I was worried about what would happen to my baby if I went to the hospital, who would look after him, who would give him milk, would he be deprived of breastfeeding’.

Anxiety about decreased milk or not breastfeeding; P9 ‘…it was as if my milk decreased, I couldn’t feed, I couldn’t even drink water. I thought my milk was gone, I immediately bought formula, etc. My husband said it was psychological. The anxiety of whether the baby was full or not lasted for three or four days and I still have the formula I bought (laughs)’.

P15

‘When you have that virus, you first worry about whether you will be able to breastfeed’.

Anxiety about the Covid- 19 period: P14 ‘I had anxiety about whether to use Covid medication. Can I use it while breastfeeding, I did not take it, but I always had a question mark in my mind, but then I said I was glad I did not take it. Everyone in the family was infected, would this process end?’.

Fig. 3

Methods of coping with anxiety and stress caused by Covid-19 experienced during breastfeeding

The methods of coping with anxiety and stress experienced by mothers with Covid-19 infection during breastfeeding were grouped under five sub-themes: praying, paying attention to isolation, spouse support, getting professional support, and effective communication with the baby (Fig. 3). Examples of raw data in these sub-themes are given below.

Praying: P1 ‘…in this process, I prayed a lot, did what my doctor said, and paid attention to isolation (thinking), so I don’t know’.

Paying attention to isolation: P10 ‘Me and my husband wore masks, we were very careful not to infect the baby’.

Spouse support: P2 ‘Spouse support is very important (smiles)’.

P13

‘Thanks to my husband, he helped me, otherwise, I couldn’t have done it on my own. My fever and my baby’s fever were high, and my husband was with the baby, following it and bathing it all the time’.

Getting professional support: P4 ‘My husband encouraged me a lot, and thanks to our midwife friend at work, she made great efforts, constantly communicated with me, and supported me’.

P5

‘They called me from the Ministry of Health and asked me to stop breastfeeding, and I was very scared and worried. Then after talking to our own doctor on the phone, we decided to continue breastfeeding, and we were relieved’.

P7

‘I was very scared at first. I was afraid that Covid would pass to the child through breastfeeding, but thank God my doctor helped me a lot, I got through the process with his support’.

Effective communication with the baby: P3 ‘Reducing contact with the baby but still spending time with it, establishing that bond constantly, and fulfilling its needs was relaxing for me’.

These themes are the impact of Covid-19 on breastfeeding, COVID-19-induced anxiety during breastfeeding, and methods of coping with anxiety and stress.