Impact of mothers’ knowledge and support for sustaining exclusive breastfeeding

Background: Breast milk is the best milk for the baby. It is beneficial for the baby as well as the mother, family, and nation. In spite of an established fact, still, a very low percentage (44.2%) is implementing it. Objective: The objective of this study was to find out the knowledge, concerns, and difficulties in breastfeeding and the obstacles in the practicing breastfeeding. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done at pediatric clinics in Warangal. A total of 1010 lactating mothers who were presenting for regular check-ups were enrolled. After taking oral consent, mothers were interviewed through a predesigned questionnaire containing 50 questions on pre- and post-natal counseling received, and knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding, importance of skin-to-skin contact (SSC), and their educational status and hygiene. The entire session of interview was carried out in the optimum privacy to create a favorable environment of acquiring the data. Results: Of 1010 mothers enrolled, only 25.4% had received antenatal counseling, 15.8% had received postnatal counseling regarding exclusive breastfeeding, 56.4% followed exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), and SSC was maintained by only 2%, after delivery which played an important role in breastfeeding, p=0.000003 for antenatal counseling and EBF. Conclusion: More attention should be given in educating mothers when they conceive, regarding breastfeeding, its problems and skills, during their first visit to health-care professionals

3rd National Conference on Image Processing, Computing, Communication, Networking and Data Analytics

This volume contains contributed articles presented in the conference NCICCNDA 2018, organized by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, GSSS Institute of Engineering and Technology for Women, Mysore, Karnataka (India) on 28th April 2018