Abstract
BackgroundThe prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life has remained low worldwide and in Ghana, despite strong evidence in support of its practice. This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers in the Tamale metropolis of Ghana.MethodsIn a descriptive cross-sectional study, 393 mother-infant pairs attending child welfare clinics from three health facilities in the Tamale Metropolis were surveyed. A structured item questionnaire was used to collect data on the socio-demographic Characteristics of the participants, their knowledge regarding breastfeeding and level of practice of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). The results were presented in frequency counts, percentages and inferences were made using a contingency table and chi-square values were computed to check for the relationship between participants demographic characteristics, the Knowledge and the practice of EBF and P value was set at 0.05.ResultsThe Analysis of the data was done with SPSS version 20. The study surveyed a total of 393 mothers from Tamale metropolis, of whom 27.7% reported having exclusively breastfed their infant for the first 6 months of life. The socio-demographic of the participants showed that they all had some level of education. The study revealed that 39.4% initiated breastfeeding within one hour after birth. Majority of participants had heard of EBF 277 (70.5%), about 344 (87.5%) of participants believed that EBF should be practised for 5 months in their locality. Pearson Chi-square test of the association between sociodemographic characteristics associated and EBF showed a significant association between EBF and the sex of the child, X2 = 4.177, P = .041. Whiles, EBF and the Knowledge on child spacing was X2 = 17.769, P < .001 and EBF and knowledge on Breast cancer reduction was also significant X2 = 4.384, P = .036.ConclusionsAlthough all the participants had some level of education background, a majority did not have adequate knowledge on EBF and EBF practice was low in the study community. Thus, we suggest improved education at the child welfare clinics and the media should be used as a platform to educate women adequately about importance of EBF.
Highlights
The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life has remained low worldwide and in Ghana, despite strong evidence in support of its practice
Plain English The factors contributing to the reduced rate of EBF practice in developing countries such as those in Africa has been shown to include: lack of knowledge about benefits of breastfeeding, lack of maternal decision-making power, work schedules, recommencing work after maternity leave, lack of support, traditional beliefs and practices
This study explored the knowledge and
Summary
The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life has remained low worldwide and in Ghana, despite strong evidence in support of its practice. This study was aimed at assessing the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers in the Tamale metropolis of Ghana. Adequate knowledge about exclusive breastfeeding is said to be the fundamental tool that can direct the course of EBF practice among mothers [2, 3]. [4], indicated that most mothers have knowledge of EBF 97.6%, but only 64.6% have adequate knowledge and mother’s higher knowledge about breastfeeding correlated with longer duration of practice. [5], in a study on knowledge of the importance of EBF for the first 6 months, showed that the knowledge level of participants was (35.7%), this figure was seen to be relatively high. Only about half of the participants (17.9%) practised EBF
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