Abstract
Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life is a natural, cost effective and feasible intervention that promotes child survival. Exclusive breastfeeding has been promoted severally but its practice has remained poor in Nigeria. This study aims to determine the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers who bring their children to the department of Paediatrics University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. This was a descriptive cross-sectional hospital based study carried out from January 2012 to December 2013. A total of three hundred mothers presenting with their children for treatment at the Department of Paediatrics outpatient clinics, emergency and children medical wards were consecutively recruited into the study. Data on demographics, marital status, socioeconomic characteristics, knowledge and practice of breastfeeding were obtained using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The respondents were aged between 18 and 55years with a mean age of 31.59+6.6years. Most of the women were between 26-35years, majority (39%) were aged 25-30years and majority(89.3%) were married. Thirteen percent had no formal education while majority (63.8%) had tertiary education. Ninety eight percent of the respondents had heard about EBF. Knowledge of the correct meaning of EBF was 91.3% while awareness of the benefits of EBF was 69.3%. Thirty five (11.7%) practiced EBF for the first 6months. More than half (57.7%) of the respondents initiated breastfeeding within 1hour of delivery while 24.7% did so after 1hour but within 24hours of delivery. One hundred and twenty seven (42.3%) of the mothers had given prelacteal feeds to their babies. Of those who gave prelacteal feeds, 8.6% gave plain water, 6.3% glucose water, and 0.3% infant formula and herbs. In conclusion, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding in this study is very low and therefore there is an urgent need to scale up programmes that will promote exclusive breastfeeding in our region.
Highlights
Breastfeeding is a natural process necessary for optimal growth and development of infants and its benefits are well established [1,2]
N=z2/e2 n= minimum sample size z=1.96 at 95% confidence, so that z2=3.8416 p=known prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (Prevalence of 82% obtained from a cross sectional survey in Western Nigeria was used) e=error margin tolerated at 5% = 0.05 n=226
34 Yaguo Ide Lucy Eberechukwu amd Uchenwa-Onyenegecha Tochi Ada: Knowledge and Practice of Exclusive Breastfeeding Among Mothers Seen at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital heard about Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)
Summary
Breastfeeding is a natural process necessary for optimal growth and development of infants and its benefits are well established [1,2]. Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is defined as feeding an infant with only breastmilk and no additional food, water, or other liquids with the exception of vitamins, mineral supplements or other medicines during the first six months of life [1, 4]. Researchers have shown that EBF significantly protected infants from dying from infectious diseases in the first few months of life compared to those who were not exclusively breastfed [6,7,8]. Children Fund recommends early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of life, EBF for the first 6months of life followed by breastfeeding along with complimentary foods for up to two years of age and beyond. Despite strong evidence to support EBF, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding has remained suboptimal with consequent high child mortality rate in most developing countries.
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