Original Article
194
Chaudhary RN et al
September-December 2011; Vol 9 (No.3);194-200
Knowledge & practice in breast feeding
exclusively breast fed.3 Numerous barriers to breastfeeding like lack of accurate information and lack of
appropriate knowledge among the population in
general have been identified. According to a
published survey4, a major barrier to successful inhospital breast-feeding is inconsistency in information
and nursery practices related to breastfeeding
management. This study was carried out based on
the fact that knowledge of mothers and their
appropriate practice regarding breastfeeding is
limited, then focusing on womens point of view
towards breast-feeding.
2.
Methods
A cross sectional study was carried out in pediatric
OPD and immunization clinic of BPKIHS. The study
subjects were lactating mothers having children aged
under 1 year of age, who attended their children for
vaccination and for the treatment of other minor
illnesses. The purposive sampling technique was used
to select the study subjects. Information regarding
patients demographics, knowledge and practice
towards breastfeeding were collected from these
mothers on a pre-designed and pretested proforma.
Before collecting the information, permission was
taken from the institute authority and verbal consent
was taken from the respondents. The data was
entered in SPSS 10.5 software package and
analyzed.
5.
3.
4.
6.
7.
41
3
127
29
20.5
1.5
63.5
14.5
188
12
94.0
6.0
196
3
0
1
98.0
1.5
0.0
0.5
50
150
25.0
75.0
115
53
23
9
57.5
26.5
11.5
4.5
112
21
67
56.0
10.5
33.5
Results
The results of this study are presented in the below
mentioned tables and figures.
S.N. Variables
1.
Sex
Male
Female
2.
Present age
(in Month)
<6 month
6 - 12month
Characteristics
200 respondents considered for this study were
mothers of children under one year of age. The
background characteristics are shown in table 1.
Table 2 shows the age and sex distribution of the
children.
Table 1: Participants characteristics
n = 200
S.N. Background
Frequency Percent
1.
Age (Years)
15 - 25 yrs
132
66.0
25 - 35 yrs
59
29.5
35 - 45 yrs
9
4.5
Mean Age: 23.93 Years
Education completed
Illiterate
Literate
Less than high school
More than high school
Occupation
Housewife
Employed
Religion
Hindu
Muslim
Christian
Buddhist
Place of residence
Urban
Rural
Number of children
One
Two
Three
Four
Place of delivery
Home
Health centre
Hospital
Frequency
Percent
113
87
56.5
43.5
45
155
22.5
77.5
Knowledge of breastfeeding
Mother s knowledge on various aspects of
breastfeeding was seen. Appropriate knowledge was
not adequate.
195
Chaudhary RN et al
September-December 2011; Vol 9 (No.3);194-200
Knowledge & practice in breast feeding
196
Chaudhary RN et al
September-December 2011; Vol 9 (No.3);194-200
Knowledge & practice in breast feeding
197
Chaudhary RN et al
September-December 2011; Vol 9 (No.3);194-200
Knowledge & practice in breast feeding
198
Chaudhary RN et al
September-December 2011; Vol 9 (No.3);194-200
Knowledge & practice in breast feeding
199
Chaudhary RN et al
September-December 2011; Vol 9 (No.3);194-200
Knowledge & practice in breast feeding
200