Attitudes and Barriers to Breastfeeding among Mothers in Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background. Breastfeeding provides unsurpassed natural nutrition to the newborn and infant. It has a nearly perfect mix of food elements and vitamins that infants need to grow up. Nonetheless, the tendency for breastfeeding remains below the expected levels. Objectives. To explore the attitudes and barriers to breastfeeding among mothers in Princess Nourah Abdulrahman University (PNU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted, from January to April 2019; 399 PNU students, employees, and faculty mothers aged 18 years and above with experience of childbirth and breastfeeding were included in the study using a predesigned validated questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of four scales: sociodemographic, attitude toward breastfeeding, barriers to breastfeeding, and induced lactation knowledge. Results. The participants’ mean age was 34.1 ± 10.4 years; most (87.8%) were Saudi; 92.8% were married; 62% had a bachelor’s degree; and 43% had “enough income.” While 40% of the mothers reported >6 months “exclusive breastfeeding” for the first baby, only 34.8% did so for the last baby, and 54.5% did so for most of all babies altogether. The mothers’ parity ranged between 1 birth and 4 births in 23.5% and 17.5% of the participants, respectively. An overall score of breastfeeding attitude averaged 59.6 ± 7.3. The tendency for scoring a negative attitude to breastfeeding was significantly reported ( p < 0.5 ) among 127 (31.8%) 31- to 40-year-old mothers; 153 (38.3%) bachelor’s degree holders; and 157 (39.3%) employees (χ2 (4) 14.6, p = 0.006; χ2 (4) 10.4, p = 0.034; and χ2 (4) 20.4, p < 0.001, respectively). “Mother’s illness” was the most commonly (63%) reported barrier to “not to breastfeed,” followed by “work” (45.5%) and “father not supporting breastfeeding” (14.8%). Conclusions. An overall negative attitude toward breastfeeding among PNU mothers was noted. Barriers included mother’s sickness and work. Efforts to minimize such negative attitudes and barriers among susceptible mothers are warranted.

Is the Frequency of Postpartum Breastfeeding Counseling Associated with Exclusive Breastfeeding at Six Months? An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study

“…The pattern of a decrease in exclusive breastfeeding from the early months postpartum onward is consistent with the literature on Saudi mothers [2,[5][6][7][8][9][10]. The reasons for this downward trend in Saudi Arabia are frequently reported to be the wide misconception of low milk supply, going back to work after maternity leave, and maternal health condition [43][44][45]. Similarly, this trend is observed in other high-income countries of the gulf region (the United Arab Emirates initiation prevalence of 95.6% versus exclusive breastfeeding for those under six months of 44.3% [46], Qatar: 33.5% versus 29.3%, Kuwait: 49.9% versus 7.8%, and Oman: 82% versus 23.2%) [47].…”

Associated Factors of Exclusive Breastfeeding Intention among Pregnant Women in Najran, Saudi Arabia

“…On the contrary, Yasser Abulreesh et al reported a negative attitude toward EBF among their participants [36]. The variation between the current study and Yasser Abulreesh et al may be attributed to the different study samples where all their participants were working women, but in the current study, 44.5% were housewives.…”

Determinants of breastfeeding attitudes of mothers in Jordan: A cross-sectional study

“…In the region, Naja et al showed that only 9.5% of women to have positive attitude to breastfeeding in Qatar and in Lebanon. On the other hand, in Saudi Arabia, Mohammed et al found more positive attitude toward breastfeeding [34], while Abulreesh et al reported neutral attitude to breastfeeding [35]. In Ethiopia, neutral attitude to breastfeeding was reported [36].…”