A cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence of breastfeeding practices among women working in software companies in Whitefield, Bengaluru

Abstract

Background: Breastfeeding is the best and complete food for the growth and development of the infants. According to the World Health Organization, “early initiation of breastfeeding should be started within 1 h of birth, exclusive breastfeeding should be practiced till 6 months of age, and complementary feeding should be started at 6 months, along with breastfeeding till 2 years of age to achieve optimum growth and development.” Working environment and breastfeeding policies also play a key role in practicing breastfeeding. The following study was undertaken to assess the prevalence of breastfeeding practices among women working in software companies in Whitefield, Bengaluru. Objectives: The objectives of this study are (1) to assess the infant feeding practices among mothers working in software companies and (2) to assess factors affecting breastfeeding in mothers working in software companies. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was carried was carried over 1 year and 6 months among 370 working mothers working in software companies who had a child within the age group of 6 months–3 years study to assess the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding practices. Data were entered and analysed using Epi-info version 7.2.1 (CDC Atlanta) software. The demographic variables such as age group, age of the child, and education are presented as percentage and proportion, and continuous variable is represented using mean and standard deviation. Result: The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding till 6 months of ages of infant was 90.27%. In this study, the prevalence of pre-lacteal feed given by working mothers was 3.24%, and the substances given were honey, sugar syrup, cow’s milk, and formula feed. Conclusion: The study highlights the breastfeeding practices among working women, and the rate of initiation of breastfeeding within 1 h of delivery was practiced by 8.91% of mothers. Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was 90.27%. About 3.24% of the mothers reported giving pre-lacteal feeds to their child, and the substances given were honey, sugar syrup, cow milk, and formula feed. As more females are taking up jobs and working nowadays, more commonly in software industry, they should be educated about the harmful effects of pre-lacteal feeds and discouraged from feeding their infants with pre-lacteal feeds.