Knowledge, attitude, and practice of breastfeeding: A comparative study of mothers in urban and rural communities of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Breastfeeding is a child survival intervention, which is effective in reducing child mortality. This study compared the knowledge, attitude, and practice of breastfeeding among mothers of under-five children in rural and urban communities of Lagos, Southwest Nigeria. Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Ikeja and Ikorodu, an urban and a rural local government area (LGA) of Lagos state, respectively. A total of 248 mothers of children under 5 years were selected from both areas using multistage sampling technique and subsequently interviewed. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20. Chi-squared test was used for urban and rural comparisons. Results: The respondents with good level of knowledge of breastfeeding in the urban and rural areas were 84.7% and 89.5%, respectively ( P = 0.256). The overall positive attitude was 52.4% and 57.3% among the urban and rural respondents, respectively ( P = 0.444). More than three-quarters (75.8%) of the respondents in the rural LGA and 43.5% of the urban respondents initiated breastfeeding immediately after birth ( P < 0.001). Most of the rural respondents who had babies aged 0–24 months (46.8%) were currently breastfeeding their babies compared to 25.9% of their urban counterparts ( P = 0.001). Furthermore, 79.8% of the rural respondents had practiced or were currently practicing exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) compared to 29.0% of the urban respondents ( P < 0.001), with more urban women citing work resumption as reason for nonpractice of EBF ( P = 0.010). The overall good practice was 16.1% and 69.4% among the urban and rural respondents, respectively ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: Respondents' knowledge about breastfeeding was good, while their attitude was fair. The practice of breastfeeding among urban respondents was however low. Government and nongovernmental agencies should focus on programs that improve the attitude and breastfeeding practice of urban women.

Breast Feeding among Mothers Attending Immunization Clinic at Health Centresin Rivers State Nigeria: An Institutional-based Survey

“…This finding was similar to that reported from a study done in India where 77% of the mothers discarded their colostrums [17]. It however differed from those reported from Saudi Arabia, UAE and Nigeria [16,18,19]. The poor awareness on the usefulness of colostrum in our study may be attributable to some negative myths surrounding the use of colostrum in many Nigerian cultures.…”

Comparison of knowledge and practice regarding colostrum feeding among mothers in rural and urban area

“…11 Balogun et al (75.8% rural versus 43.5% urban) initiated breastfeeding immediately after birth. 7 The present study showed that the practice of pre-lacteal feeding was observed to be prevalent in both urban and rural area mothers (21.3% urban and 22.7% mothers).…”

“…4 Balogun et al observed that the mothers in the urban area (84.7%) had correct knowledge of the usefulness of colostrum compared with 68.5% in the rural area. 7 Dhale et al study showed that 70% mothers had good knowledge. 8 The respondents with a good level of knowledge of breastfeeding in the urban and rural areas were 84.7% and 89.5%, respectively.…”

Breastfeeding Practices among Mothers in Southwest Nigeria

“…Breastfeeding is a culturally accepted practice in many ethnic groups in Nigeria ( 9 , 18 , 19 ). Studies also indicate a high level of awareness and knowledge about breastfeeding among women in south west Nigeria ( 9 , 15 , 20 , 21 ). This may have been responsible for the high proportion of respondents who engaged in some form breastfeeding.…”

“…Other researchers in south west Nigeria reported exclusive breastfeeding rates ranging from 11% to 86.2% ( 9 , 15 , 32 ). The differences in study settings (urban or rural), the employment status and work demands of the women may be partly responsible for the wide variations in the rates of exclusive breastfeeding ( 2 , 9 , 20 ).…”