Knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among antenatal attendees in Uyo, Southern Nigeria

Abstract

The aim was to assess the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among women receiving antenatal care in the teaching hospital. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to two hundred women in the antenatal clinic. Majority of the respondents (69.5%) were between 25-34 years of age, 57.0% were multiparous and 67.7% had attained tertiary level education. Eighty-four women (42.0%) were able to define exclusive breastfeeding correctly while just 7.0% of the respondents knew the ten steps to successful breastfeeding. Only 44.5% of the women practiced exclusive breastfeeding. None of the women belonged to a breastfeeding support group and the most common source of information on exclusive breastfeeding was the antenatal health talks (81.0%). The level of knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by women in our centre is poor. There is need for large scale health enlightenment of members of the public on exclusive breastfeeding. There is also the need for periodic retraining of relevant health workers on the practice of exclusive breastfeeding and strategies introduced for its regular monitoring and evaluation.

Awareness of Exclusive Breastfeeding among the Women of Reproductive Age Group in Urban Slums

“…The urban slum population constitute one of the fastest growing sections of the society with millions of babies being born annually. Breast feeding practices of children among urban slum dwellers is considered poor leading to various conditions of ill health and malnutrition Our study revealed that only 47.8% of the respondent had the correct knowledge regarding EBF which was almost similar to study done by Ouchi et al 12 where (31%) mothers had adequate knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding and in a study done by Abasiattai et al 13 showed (42.0%) of antenatal attendees were able to define exclusive breastfeeding correctly. However, the figure obtained in this study is low when compared to the study done by Oluwatosin et al 14 19 showed 80% of the mothers had the knowledge to initiate breastfeeding within one hour of delivery.…”

"Once the child is delivered, he is no more your baby," Exclusive Breastfeeding experiences of first-time mothers in Kassena-Nankana Municipality, Ghana - a qualitative study

“…The findings further indicate that the health facility or place of delivery was the first port of call in receiving information on breastfeeding. This is therefore consistent with the findings of a study conducted in Southern Nigeria where mothers reported often obtaining EBF information when they attended antenatal clinics in health facilities (30).…”

Once the child is delivered, he is no more your baby,” Exclusive Breastfeeding experiences of first-time mothers in Kassena-Nankana Municipality, Ghana - a qualitative study

“…The findings indicate that the health facility or place of delivery was the first point of call in receiving information on breastfeeding. This is therefore consistent with the findings of a study conducted in Southern Nigeria where mothers reported often obtaining EBF information when they attended antenatal clinics in health facilities (30). On a whole, participants knew EBF as a standard practice, which makes no room for alternative feeding for babies within the specified six-month period…”