Exclusive breastfeeding amongst mothers: Awareness and practice in Ogbomoso, South West Nigeria

Abstract

Breastfeeding is considered as the most complete nutritional source for an infant as it contains all that is needed for such infant to thrive and survive in the formative first year of life. Exclusive breast feeding implies giving a baby no other food, solid or water), except breast milk and it is encouraged to be practiced. However, in many developing countries like Nigeria this practice is not optimal. This study was carried out to examine the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding amongst mothers in Ogbomoso. This was cross sectional study which involved a total of 342 respondents. The questionnaire was pretested and was administered by interviewers. The mean age of the administered by interviewers. The mean age of the study participant was 40.06±11.14 years. Majority of the respondents(98.54%) were aware of the benefits of breastfeeding. Two hundred and thirty eight 238(69.6%) of the participants exclusively breastfed for six months, however One hundred and fifty one mothers accounting for 44.4% had started breastfeeding within one hour after delivery. Despite the knowledge of the mothers about exclusive breastfeeding, its practice was not satisfactory amongst respondents. This is due to mother's lack of formal education, poor antenatal care attendance and lack of support from husband. Promotion of women's education, job empowerment encouraging antenatal care and exclusive breastfeeding counseling during antenatal care are recommended to improve exclusive breastfeeding practice.