Abstract:
Objective: to explore the attitudes, knowledge and practices towards breastfeeding of the last baby and to explore the factors associated with non early initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour after birth and non exclusive breastfeeding for 5-6 months among a sample of expectant mothers.
Patients and methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried on pregnant women who have had given birth at least once attending the antenatal care clinic of Sohag University Hospital in the period from October 2013 to March 2014. A questionnaire was used to collect data about the participants' personal data, their knowledge of issues related to breastfeeding and their attitudes and previous practices regarding breastfeeding of their last baby.
Results: 554 (89.07%) participants have breastfed their last baby and 56.86% of them breastfed for 18 months only, 31.23% delayed initiating breastfeeding for more than 1 hour after birth. Exclusive breastfeeding for 5-6 month was practiced only by about 29.78 % of the participants. 33.76% of the participants did not have health education on breastfeeding during antenatal visits in their last pregnancy. A large proportion of the participants had no knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding for the mother and her baby or the sound practices of breastfeeding. Operative delivery, lack of breastfeeding support by health workers and family members and illiteracy were statistically associated with non early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 hour after delivery. While, breastfeeding difficulty, exposure to milk formula advertisement, lack of breastfeeding support by health workers and family members and illiteracy were statistically associated with non exclusive breastfeeding for 5-6 months.
Conclusions: politics of breastfeeding promotion must be developed and should stress on strengthening support by health care workers and minimizing unnecessary Cesarean deliveries. There is a strong need for health education programs providing information about the benefits of breastfeeding and the conduction of sound practice of breastfeeding.