Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding exclusive breastfeeding among mothers attending primary health care centers in Abha city

Abstract

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is viewed as a major public health intervention to reduce the child mortality, particularly, in the neonates and infants. Aims & Objectives: To study the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding exclusive breastfeeding as well as to identify its determinants and explore barriers against it among mothers in Abha City. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was adopted. It included all mothers, who have a child aged 6-12 months, attending primary health care centers within the Abha city. An Arabic validated questionnaire was used for data collection. It comprises 3 parts as follows: personal characteristics, knowledge about breast feeding and attitude toward breastfeeding. Results: A total of 600 women, with children aged between 6 months and 12 months, from those registered in PHCC in Abha were included in the study. Their age ranged between 18 and 47 years with a mean of 31.4±5 years. Most of them were Saudi (88.2%) and university graduated (78.7%). Overall mothers' breastfeeding knowledge was good among more than half of them (55.3%) and excellent among 30.7% of them while it was unsatisfactory among 14% of the mothers. Positive attitude towards breastfeeding was reported among 62.2% of the participants while negative attitude was reported among more than one-third of them (37.8%). Breastfeeding in the first 6 months was practiced by 24.7% of the participated mothers. Of them, only 7.3% practiced exclusive breast feeding. In the multivariate analysis, governmental workers had significant double probability of not practicing exclusive breastfeeding as opposed to house wives (adjusted OR= 1.9, 95%CI= 1.02-4.3). Women delivered by caesarean section were at double risk for non-practicing exclusive breastfeeding compared to those delivered normally (adjusted OR= 2.1, 95%CI= 1.2-10.4). Women who did not have breastfeeding education were at higher risk of not practicing exclusive breastfeeding than those have it (adjusted OR=1.9, 95%CI=1.06-11.2). Work-related problems (46.2%), insufficient breast milk (34.2%), maternal health problems (14.9%) and neonatal health problems (9.7%) are the commonly reported barriers against exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: Breastfeeding exclusivity among our sample is suboptimal, compared to the current WHO recommendations, despite the relatively higher level of knowledge. Irrespective of maternal educational status, many misconceptions are prevalent regarding breastfeeding practices that need special emphasis in health education campaigns.

Knowledge and Attitude towards Exclusive Breast Feeding among Mothers Attending Antenatal and Immunization Clinic at Dabat Health Center, Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Institution Based Study

“…This study shows that mothers who have good knowledge towards EBF are 69.8% which is higher than a study conducted in Abha city, Saudi Arabia, which was 55.3% [10], and Nigeria that was 31% [11] and Guba Lafto woreda, Ethiopia (65.1%) [9]. Contrary to this, the finding is lower than a study conducted in Calabar, Nigeria, which was 80% [12] and Bedele town in Ethiopia where it is was 87.3% [13].…”

Breastfeeding Trends and Determinants: Implications and recommendations for Gulf Cooperation Council countries

“…10,14 In Saudi Arabia, a study reported that exclusive breastfeeding practices were suboptimal in Abha city, despite most participants demonstrating either good (55.3%) or excellent (30.7%) levels of knowledge regarding breastfeeding practices and 62.2% reporting positive attitudes towards breastfeeding; in contrast, unsatisfactory levels of knowledge were found in only 14% of mothers overall. 16 In Bahrain, exclusive and continued breastfeeding rates in 2010 among children <6 and 20-23 months old were 34% and 41%, respectively. 17 Moreover, two-thirds of Bahraini mothers supplemented breastfeeding with other forms of nutrition before their babies were six months old.…”

“…24 Another study among Saudi Arabian employed mothers who had undergone Caesarean deliveries and did not receive breastfeeding education noted that the main factors which doubled the risk of failing to breastfeed were work-related problems, insufficient breast milk and maternal and neonatal health problems. 16 In Oman, suboptimal breastfeeding practices have reportedly been linked to a lack of continuity of support, inadequate healthcare staff training/education and increased marketing of infant formula. 18,25 Fortunately, in order to revitalise the BFHI campaign, Oman has recently adopted the WHO international guidelines for the marketing of breast milk substitutes.…”

“…According to the available literature, breastfeeding rates in GCC countries are suboptimal and achievement [16][17][18][19][20][21]24,25 High breastfeeding rates Low breastfeeding rates of the 50% universal exclusive breastfeeding goal set by the WHO poses a challenge in this region. 7,10,12 Breastfeeding practices in GCC countries can be improved by adopting universal breastfeeding recommendations and integrating and implementing them using breastfeeding interventions and programmes with the support of policy-makers and community stakeholders.…”

Breastfeeding exposure is associated with better knowledge of and attitudes toward BF in Kuwaiti women

“…14 Our study provides a valuable culture-specific insight into the determinants of BF intentions and infant feeding choices. There have been several efforts to investigate these factors among young mothers and college students around the globe, including Kuwait, 15 Yemen, 16 Saudi Arabia, [17][18][19] Jordan, 20 Lebanon and Syria, 21 the USA, 13 Hong Kong 22 and China. 23 To the best of the authors' knowledge, ours is the first study to assess the relationship between BF knowledge and attitudes using validated scales in a sample of Kuwaiti college students, faculty and staff.…”