Breastfeeding knowledge and practice among women in western Maharashtra: A cross sectional study

Introduction: The best and most natural way to nourish newborn babies is through breastfeeding. In a developing nation like India, undernutrition affects people of all ages and is a serious health concern. The advantages of breastfeeding are not well understood, and breastfeeding is also not very common, due to the fact that the majority of people living in poor and rural regions lack access to information and education.

Method: The present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on rural breastfeeding mothers, to assess exclusive breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes and practices. These mother used to visit study site for vaccinate their infants. A total of 156 mothers willing to participate in the study were included according to the predefined criteria. Selection of the participants was done using simple random method. Data was collected through face to face interview using pilot tested, pre structured questionnaire.

Result: Out of total 156 mothers, 43 (27.56%) were in the age group of 26 to 30 years, 110 (70.51%) mothers had accurate knowledge exclusively breastfeeding, while 7 (4.48%) mothers had adequate knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding. Moreover, 85 (54.48%) mothers were exclusive breastfeeding and 88 (56.41%) mothers were breastfeeding their infants less than 8 times a day.

Conclusion: Mothers in general are still not well informed about breastfeeding. Most mothers knew the benefits of breast milk for babies; however, knowledge of the benefits of breastfeeding for a mother herself, as well as the practice of exclusive breastfeeding, is still low and strongly related to socio-demographic factors such as maternal age, religion and place of residence.