Pattern of Breastfeeding amongst Mothers and its Physiological Effects on Infants in Rural Areas, South-South, Nigeria

Abstract

Breast milk is a natural liquid’s food given to babies who are between one-day old to about 2 years old depending on mothers and locations. The aim of this study is to investigate Pattern of Breastfeeding amongst Mothers and its Physiological Effects on Infants in Rural Areas of Rivers State. This is a cross-sectional study involving 111 lactating mothers who are within the age of 18 to 42 years. A well-structured questionnaire was administered to participants. Each participant had one questionnaire to fill appropriately and independently after instructions were given to them by the researchers. The study lasted for a period of 9 weeks. The study revealed that 17(15.30%) had primary education, 64(57.70%) had secondary education while 30(27.00%) had tertiary education. Occupational distribution of respondents shows that 10(9.00%) were civil servants, 61(55.00%) business class while 40(36.00%) were farmers. The results also, shows that 98(88.30%) were nursing mothers while 13(11.70%) were not. The results of breastfeeding pattern of respondents show that 11(9.90%) used breast milk alone, 32(28.80%) breast milk +water, 2(1.80%) breast milk + pap, 31(27.90%) breast milk +NAN or others in this category +30(27.00%) breast milk + solid food while 5(4.50%) employed pap alone. The level of awareness of the respondents about exclusive breastfeeding revealed that 78(70.30%) said YES while 33(29.70%) said NO, that they do not know about exclusive breastfeeding. 90(81.1%) of the respondents do not carry out exclusive breastfeeding and 21(18.9%) carried out exclusive breastfeeding. The duration for breastfeeding among mothers are 5.4% (6 months), 13.5% (5 m0nths), 37.8% (3 months), 43.2% (none). Scholars Middle East Publishers