Breastfeeding Practices among Lactating Mothers in a City of South India

Abstract

Introduction: Breast feeding is the first fundamental right of the child. It provides a unique biological and
emotional basis for the health and development of the children. The world health organization recommends that breastfeeding be initiated within one hour of birth. Early initiation of breastfeeding provides benefits for both mother and the baby.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge and attitude and practices about breast-feeding and complimentary feeding practices among lactating mothers attending Outpatient department (OPD) of tertiary care centre in a city of South India.
Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional observational study done amongst post-natal mothers attending OPD in Sri Siddhartha Medical College, Tumkur between October to November 2022. Data collected was entered on Microsoft Excel spread sheet. Descriptive statistics and Chi –square test as test of significance were used. P value less than 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Statistical software Epi Info software version 7.2.5 was used for the statistical analysis.
Results: Data was collected from 104 post-natal mothers attending the OPD. All of them knew about importance of exclusive breast-feeding, colostrum feeding (100%). 99% of them knew breast feeding improves immunity. 95 (91%) of the participants were willing to continue breastfeeding up to two years and beyond. Only 16 (15.4%) mothers fed the baby on demand, others followed scheduled feeding like once in 1-2 hours, once in 2 to 3 hours.
In our study 78.8% women started complimentary feeding at 6 months.
Conclusion: Healthy breastfeeding practices have significant effect on mothers and infants. The breastfeeding knowledge and positive practices are optimal among mothers. Focused breastfeeding counselling and advice by the health workers with emphasis on correct technique can improve the positive breastfeeding practices.