Abstract
Background Breastfeeding provides unsurpassed natural nutrition to the newborn and infant. It has a nearly perfect mix of food elements and vitamins that infants need to grow up. Nonetheless, the tendency for breastfeeding remains below the expected levels. Objectives To explore the attitudes and barriers to breastfeeding among mothers in Princess Nourah Abdulrahman University (PNU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted, from January to April 2019; 399 PNU students, employees, and faculty mothers aged 18 years and above with experience of childbirth and breastfeeding were included in the study using a predesigned validated questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of four scales: sociodemographic, attitude toward breastfeeding, barriers to breastfeeding, and induced lactation knowledge. Results The participants' mean age was 34.1 ± 10.4 years; most (87.8%) were Saudi; 92.8% were married; 62% had a bachelor's degree; and 43% had “enough income.” While 40% of the mothers reported >6 months “exclusive breastfeeding” for the first baby, only 34.8% did so for the last baby, and 54.5% did so for most of all babies altogether. The mothers' parity ranged between 1 birth and 4 births in 23.5% and 17.5% of the participants, respectively. An overall score of breastfeeding attitude averaged 59.6 ± 7.3. The tendency for scoring a negative attitude to breastfeeding was significantly reported (p < 0.5) among 127 (31.8%) 31- to 40-year-old mothers; 153 (38.3%) bachelor's degree holders; and 157 (39.3%) employees (χ2 (4) 14.6, p = 0.006; χ2 (4) 10.4, p = 0.034; and χ2 (4) 20.4, p < 0.001, respectively). “Mother's illness” was the most commonly (63%) reported barrier to “not to breastfeed,” followed by “work” (45.5%) and “father not supporting breastfeeding” (14.8%). Conclusions An overall negative attitude toward breastfeeding among PNU mothers was noted. Barriers included mother's sickness and work. Efforts to minimize such negative attitudes and barriers among susceptible mothers are warranted.
Highlights
Breastfeeding provides unsurpassed natural nutrition to the newborn and infant [1]
A crosssectional design was selected for the study. e study was conducted in Princess Nourah Abdulrahman University (PNU) in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), during the period between January 2019 and April 2019
Sociodemographic scale included items relevant to breastfeeding, such as maternal age, e Scientific World Journal nationality, marital status, level of education, occupation, living, income, payment, and number of live births. e breastfeeding attitude scale included items modified from the “Iowa infant feeding attitude scale” (IIFAS) [29]; IIFAS demonstrates high validity and reliability [30] and is widely utilized in the domain of measuring maternal attitudes toward infant feeding methods. e IIFAS consists of 17 items: 9 to reflect the positive attitudes to breastfeeding and 8 to reflect the negative ones
Summary
Breastfeeding provides unsurpassed natural nutrition to the newborn and infant [1]. It has a nearly perfect mix of food elements and vitamins that infants need to grow up. Mature human breast milk contains large quantities of secretory immunoglobulin A to line the respiratory and gastrointestinal mucosal membranes, rendering the infant four times less likely to develop diarrheal disease than formula-fed babies [5]. Such diarrheal disease is of shorter duration and is less severe than in formula-fed babies [6]. E tendency for scoring a negative attitude to breastfeeding was significantly reported (p < 0.5) among 127 (31.8%) 31- to 40-year-old mothers; 153 (38.3%) bachelor’s degree holders; and 157 (39.3%) employees (χ2 (4) 14.6, p 0.006; χ2 (4) 10.4, p 0.034; and χ2 (4) 20.4, p < 0.001, respectively). Efforts to minimize such negative attitudes and barriers among susceptible mothers are warranted
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
