Infant feeding beliefs and practices among tribal mothers in Nashik district, Maharashtra

Background: Maternal and new-born health remains issue of critical concern for the developing world. The day of Delivery and immediate postpartum period poses the greatest risk of survival for the mother as well as the child. The indigenous women in rural, remote areas face various geographical, climatic, socio-economic inequities, which further amplify health risks associated with delivery. The study aimed to identify the pattern of utilization of intrapartum and postpartum health services by indigenous women in rural, remote area and understand the challenges faced by them to access care. Methods: A community based descriptive, cross-sectional study was carried out in 41 far-flung villages of Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh, India, using a mixed-method approach of data collection. 103 females who had experienced delivery in past 2 years and were residents of Lahaul for minimum of 3 years, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. The quantitative data was analysed by SPSS-20. The qualitative data was transcribed and analysed thematically. Results: The study highlighted the significant physical, psychological, financial and socio-cultural risks borne by the women of Lahaul in order to access biomedical care during maternity care. The prime cause of the grave situation was inadequacy of appropriate care in the health facilities of the district, which forced the women to migrate to areas with better healthcare facilities.Conclusions: The study stressed the need to establish comprehensive emergency, obstetric and new born care in the tribal area to reverse the disparities in the region and improve health outcomes.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Utilization of delivery and postnatal health services by indigenous women of a hilly, remote district in India: a struggle for safe motherhood

Purohit

2021

“…In this study among the 314 mothers who had atleast one pre-school child, about 62.4% were from the age group of 22-27 years, and mean age was 26.45 years similar to the 63.6% who were from 20 to 25 years in a study done by Bobhate and Shrivastava and closer to the two-thirds belonging to 21-25 years as observed by Garje et al in their study. 8,9 Colostrum, the first breast milk is highly nutritious and possesses antibodies that protect the newborn from many diseases. Delay in initiation of breastfeeding deprives the child from valuable components of colostrum, and worst still prelacteal feeding may cause adverse health effect and also delay in stimulation normally provided by suckling which could lead to decreased lactation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11 Early initiation of breast feeding was noted among 80% of the participant mothers, which was higher than the reported 70.1% in a study done in Nashik, Maharashtra and 76% reported by Vijayakumari and Ramana in their study. 4,9 Fifty four percent mothers in the study said that they gave colostrum to their infants, less than the 60% as reported by Neog et al, and more than the 40% observed by Dakshayani and Gangadhar and much more than and 26% reported by Nisha et al 10,12,13 Karunamurthy et al and Neog et al have documented that prelacteal feeding had been given by about two third (66%) of mothers in Vizianagaram and Jorhat respectively, which is higher than 46% noted in this study. 12,14 Jaggery water (24%) seemed to be popular choice of preacteal food followed by honey (22%).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Breastfeeding also benefits the mother by helping to improve her health and acts as a natural contraception. 1 Further, ensuring adequate and timely introduction of supplementary feeding along with continued breast feeding could benefit the nation in reducing an important nutritional disorder among child, 'stunting'. 2 Several factors affect breastfeeding including socioeconomic status, ethnicity, maternal education and employment, maternal age, attitude and confidence, residence and type of family, the influence of urbanization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Infant feeding practices of a tribal community in a mandal of Khammam district, Telangana

Alwala¹,

Dudala²,

Bolla³

et al. 2018

Background: Breast milk is the best, safest and most nutritious food for infants. Though breast feeding is almost universal, there are yet some myths and false beliefs surrounding the practice due to various cultures and traditions in India. In the present study an attempt was made to understand various aspects of infant feeding practices among the Sugali tribes of Khammam district, Telangana state.Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among Sugali community in Khammam mandal of Khammam district in Telangana from March to June 2010. In which 314 families with pre-school children were interviewed using a pre–designed semi-structured questionnaire.Results: Nearly 80% (251) of the mothers had said that they initiate breast feeding after one hour of delivery, while only 6% initiated breastfeeding within one hour delivery. About 54% of the mothers were giving colostrum to their newborns, while others (45.86%) were giving pre-lacteal feeding to the infants including jaggery water and honey. It was observed that most (71.65%) of the mothers were continuing to breastfeed their children more than 18 months. Only 11.78% of the mothers started weaning before 6 months of age. Socio-economic status, literacy rate and working status of the mothers were some of the influencing factors.Conclusions: The study identified the practices of infant feeding, their determinants among the sugali tribes and recommendations to improve their practices. False beliefs and difficulties regarding breast feeding need to be addressed through heath education and family support.

“…[8][9][10][11][12] Breastfeeding benefits the mother by helping to improve her health and acts as natural contraception. 13 Further, ensuring adequate and timely introduction of supplementary feeding along with continued breastfeeding could benefit the nation in reducing an important nutritional disorder among child, 'stunting'. 14 India rural areas seem to be shaped with community social belief and cultural factors.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Infant feeding practices among mothers in rural Rajamahendravaram, Andhra Pradesh

Uppiretla

Mishra

Rachakulla

2019

Background: Maternal and child under nutrition remain extensive in low and middle-income population groups. Safe delivery practices and adequate nutrition during infancy is essential to ensure health, growth, and development of a child. Early under nutrition has a long-lasting effect on physical and cognitive growth. So it is essential to assess and promote the healthy child feeding & caring practices in the vulnerable groups.Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted to enrol 160 mothers of infants by probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling procedure for 5 months in the field practicing areas of GSL Medical College. Primary data was collected through a validated questionnaire with variables of socio-demography, intra-natal, and infant feeding practices. Secondary data was obtained from MCP cards. The analysis was done using SPSS trial version 18, results were expressed as percentages and proportions and Chi-square test was used to assess the association.Results: Majorities (90%) of the deliveries are institutional and the proportion of low birth weight was found to be 12.5%. Breastfeeding was initiated within 1st hour after delivery among 75.6% infants and 79.1% of the infants of 6-11m were reportedly exclusively breast fed. Working status and literacy status of mother are significantly associated with infant feeding practices.Conclusions: In spite of many programmes targeted for promoting safe intra natal and infant feeding practices this study finds a relatively high proportion of faulty practices prevalent in rural areas.