Maternal knowledge on benefits of breastfeeding; A study from a District General Hospital, Sri Lanka

Abstract

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O bjectives: The aim was to determ ine the level o f know ledge on breastfeeding, factors that contribute to the know ledge and to identify any gaps in know ledge am ong antenatal mothers. M eth o d s: Follow ing ethical approval, a descriptive study was carried out am ong m others adm itted for confinem ent in D ecem ber 2015. to District G eneral H ospital Negom bo. D ata w as collected using an interview er adm inistered questionnaire and analysed using SPSS. R esults: O ut o f 227 m others included in the analysis, 32% w ere prim iparae. M ajority w ere Sinhalese (85.5% ) and 95% belonged to the age group o f 20-39y. M onthly income o f h a lf the population (49% ) was <Rs. 25000 w hile 68% o f the m others had studied up to G .C.E. O rdinary Level or above. M ore than h alf (58% ) had participated in at least 2 ‘antenatal lactation sessions’ w hile 82% m entioned television/ radio as their other sources o f inform ation. Seventy percent o f the m others agreed that breastfeeding on dem and as the best m ethod o f infant feeding. W hen considering the know ledge score on benefits o f breastfeeding, 77% scored >50% w hich was significantly associated w ith m aternal education (p=0.001) and participation in antenatal lactation sessions (p<0.000). A lthough the m ajority (87% ) agreed w ith exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, only 50% w ere aw are o f the beneficial properties o f colostrum w hile 23% stated that colostrum needed to be supplemented. C onclusions: M aternal education contributes to a better level o f know ledge on benefits o f breastfeeding w hile antenatal sessions attribute to it. Since a significant percentage has gaps in the know ledge on benefits o f colostrum , this needs to be addressed at the clinic or postnatal settings.