Awareness Regarding Maternal And Infant Feeding Practices Among Mothers Of Medical Undergraduates

Abstract

Background: Health of the family especially the infants rotate around the mother so it is essential to assess the knowledge and awareness of women regarding dietary practices pregnancy, lactation and infancy. Aim: To study knowledge and awareness regarding various aspects of feeding practices in infancy and pregnancy. Setting: Specialised population of Chandigarh (UT) Design: A cross-sectional community based epidemiological study. Methods And Material: 253 mothers of medical under-graduate students. Statistical Analysis: Number and percentage Results: The majority of the subjects (87.8%) knew that medication should be avoided during pregnancy. Only 26.48% believed that drinking alcohol and smoking is harmful for pregnant females. Knowledge about need of extra food (78.7%) and extra iron (78.26%) during pregnancy was found to be quite high. Only 19,76% reported that extra sleep/rest is essential during pregnancy. Only 18.97% respondents had information about the importance of colostrum. Conclusion: Knowledge regarding various aspects of feeding practices during pregnancy and in infants like avoidance of smoking and alcohol, importance of rest in pregnancy and importance of colostrum in infants was lacking in the studied subjects despite high literacy status. Hence the provision of health education for all females is a prerequisite for reduction of morbidity and mortality amongst vulnerable groups of mothers and infants.