Izuchukwu Loveth Ejie, Maureen Ugonwa Anetoh, Rita Oluebubechukwu Atakulu, Brian Onyebuchi Ogbonna*, Amarachi Triumph Nwabanne, Chinazom Cynthia Agujiobi, Benjamin Maduabuchukwu Aniugbo, Ifeoma Blessing Umeh, Chijioke Maxwell Ofomata and Chisom God'swil
Published on: 8th June, 2023
Background: Exclusive breastfeeding has great benefits for both the mother and the child. Few studies have been carried out on interventions to improve Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) practice by childbearing mothers. No study has formulated and/or implemented a hospital-based maternal counseling guide intervention to improve EBF practice. This baseline study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practice of EBF on mothers who were enrolled in antenatal clinics for a cluster randomized trial and the disparity in the knowledge of EBF based on lactation, age, sex, and source of income.Methods: We formulated a hospital-based counseling guide on exclusive breastfeeding, which is under implementation by prenatal and nursing mothers, to promote EBF practice in the study area. A cross-sectional study was conducted in two hospitals randomly selected from twelve hospitals in Anambra State. The study was among pregnant women who were in their second trimester. The data collection took place from March to April 2022. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square. The test of significance was set at p < 0.05.Results: The control and the intervention arms had an equal number of enrolees (144) each and more than half of the participants were between the ages of 23 – 32 years. The majority of the participants showed adequate knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding as over 90% knew that EBF is important and capable of improving their baby's immunity. The participants demonstrated a positive attitude to exclusive breastfeeding and they had a significantly high level of practice of daily consumption of galactagogues. The study suggested that the majority did not practice breast milk extraction mainly because the process of extraction is painful and some do not know how to carry out the extraction.Conclusion: The mothers have the requisite knowledge of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to their infants and themselves. However, they do not practice EBF. Interventions to improve EBF practice should focus on educating mothers on proper breast milk extraction and storage techniques.
Proper feeding practices at an early age are the key to improving a child’s overall health and achieving developmental milestones. In Bangladesh, a large portion of rural girls become mothers before the age of 18. Past records show that most interventions are designed to improve infant and young child feeding practices targeting older mothers. That is why, this study has been designed with an aim to explore the perceptions and practices of infant and young children feeding among rural Bangladeshi mothers aged <19 years old. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and group discussions with a total of 40 adolescent mothers who have children aged 0-3 years. Data has revealed that the majority of the mothers hold very limited knowledge of nutrition and child nutrition but those who are educationally a bit ahead hold a little better knowledge. Participants are aware of breastfeeding but they all misinterpret the term ‘exclusive breastfeeding’ with other liquid food. It has also emerged that most of the mothers know the ideal timing of starting complementary feeding but very few of them actually understand what to feed children. In spite of having misconceptions and superstation rural adolescent mothers practice responsive feeding instead of force-feeding. No gender discrimination has been found regarding child feeding. The findings of the study pinpointed that mothers are unable to practice proper infant and child feeding due to a lack of knowledge and limited affordability. Educating girls & young mothers and improving financial security could be an effective way to promote improved infant feeding practices.
“It was a delightful experience publishing my manuscript with the Clinical Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. They offered me lots of opportunities I never had from most publishing houses and their prompt services are greatly appreciated.”
Asafo Jones
Really good service with prompt response. Looking forward to having long lasting relationship with your journal
Avishek Bagchi
It was a great experience publishing through JCICM. The article has reached out to several institutions. Appreciate your professional work. Hope to work with you again
Anas Wardeh
“The choice to submit the forensic case study to the Journal of Addiction Therapy and Research was dictated by the match between the content and the potential readership. The publication process proved to be expedient and we were provided with constructive feedback from reviewers. The final article layout is attractive and conforms to standards. All-in-all, it has been a rewarding process.”
Elisabeth H Wiig
You are such a nice person. Your journal co-operation is very appreciable and motivational.
Department of Biotechnology, Uttaranchal college of Applied and Life Sciences, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Archna Dhasmana
Your service is very good and fast reply, Also your service understand our situation and support us to publication our articles.
Palestine College of Nursing, Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Palestine
Ayman M Abu Mustafa
The submission is very easy and the time from submission to response from the reviewers is short. Correspondence with the journal is nice and rapid.
Catrin Henriksson
I very much appreciate the humanitarian services provided in my stead by this journal/publisher.
It exhibits total absence of editorial impertinence. As an Author, I have been guided to have a fruitful experience.
The editorial care is highly commendable.
Chrysanthus Chukwuma
We really appreciate and thanks the full waiver you provide for our article. We happy to publish our paper in your journal. Thank you very much for your good support and services.
Ali Abusafia
“Mobile apps and wearable technology are becoming ubiquitous in our environment. Their integration with healthcare delivery is just beginning to take shape. The early results are promising and the possibilities great."
BS, PharmD., MBA, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, Adjunct Professor, Global Healthcare Management, MCPHS University, Chief Strategy Offi cer, MedicaSoft, Senior Advisor, National Health IT (NHIT) Collaborative for Underserved, New York HIMSS, National Liaison, Health 2.0 Boston, Past Chair, Chair Innovation, USA
If you are already a member of our network and need to keep track of any developments regarding a question you have already submitted, click "take me to my Query."