BackgroundMothers’ poor knowledge and negative attitude towards breastfeeding may influence practices and constitute barriers to optimizing the benefits of the baby-friendly initiative. This study assessed breastfeeding knowledge, attitude and techniques of postures, positioning, hold practice and latch-on among Nigerian mothers from a Semi-Urban community.MethodsThree hundred and eighty three consenting lactating mothers who have breastfed for 6 months and up to two years volunteered for this cross-sectional survey, yielding a response rate of 95.7%. A self-administered questionnaire that sought information on maternal socio-demographic variables, knowledge, attitudes and breastfeeding techniques of mothers was employed.ResultsBased on cumulative breastfeeding knowledge and attitude scores, 71.3% of the respondents had good knowledge while 54.0% had positive attitude. Seventy one point three percent practiced advisable breastfeeding posture. Sitting on a chair to breastfeed was common (62.4%); and comfort of mother/baby (60.8%) and convenience (29.5%) were the main reasons for adopting breastfeeding positions. Cross-cradle hold (80.4%), football hold technique (13.3%), breast-to-baby (18.0%) and baby-to-breast latch-on (41.3%) were the common breastfeeding techniques. A majority of the respondents (75.7%) agreed that neck flexion, slight back flexion, arm support with pillow and foot rest was essential during breastfeeding. There was no significant association between breastfeeding posture practice and each of cumulative breastfeeding knowledge score levels (X2 = 0.044; p = 0.834) and attitude score levels (X2 = 0.700; p = 0.403).ConclusionNigerian mothers demonstrated good knowledge and positive attitude towards breastfeeding. Most of the mothers practiced advisable breastfeeding postures, preferred sitting on a chair to breastfeed and utilized cross-cradle hold and baby-to-breast latch-on.

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Background: There is high prevalence of occupational injuries among blue-collar workers in the construction and other industry sectors whose jobs require high level risk in physical tasks. Aims & Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the awareness of occupational hazards and safety practices among Nigerian sawmill workers. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey recruited 94 sawmill workers comprising machine operators, planks pushers/carriers and planks vendors at Ile-Ife, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire developed from related studies was used as the survey instrument. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The mean age and the number of years at saw mill were 38.28+11.67 and 7.66+6.55 years respectively. More than half of the respondents were aware of occupational hazards. Sawmill dust (95.7%), noise pollution (81.8%) and crush injury from machine (75.5%) were the most implicated risks to health hazards. Occasional hazards were largely difficulty with breathing (56.4%) and hearing (35.1%). Occasional and constant back pain was reported by 45.7% and 38.3% of the respondents respectively. 59.7% of the respondents agreed that safety devices were necessary for safety at workplace. Face masks (78.7%), protective goggle (40.4%) and hand gloves (18.1%) were implicated as necessary devices. Only 34.0% of the respondents use face mask regularly as a safety device. However, 72.3% to 79.8% of the respondents never utilized safety devices. Conclusion: There was high level of awareness but incorrect conceptualizations of occupational hazards among Nigerian sawmill workers. The workers were exposed to various occupational injuries but showed poor compliance with safety devices utilization.

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