Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Mothers Regarding Breastfeeding in a South Indian Hospital

Study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of mothers attending a south Indian hospital towards breastfeeding. This cross sectional study was conducted on mothers of children, attending outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital, SRM Medical College, Tamil Nadu. They were administered a pre-designed questionnaire of twenty questions related to breastfeeding. A total of 200 mothers were interviewed over a period of two months. Though many mothers (47.5%) were illiterate their knowledge to start early breastfeeding was good (80%). However, only 34.5% initiated breastfeeding within one hour. Twenty five percentage of mothers felt that colostrum is bad and 10.5% gave prelacteals. Exclusive breastfeeding was given for six months by 72% of mothers. Cow’s milk was the most commonly used top milk (23.5%). Knowledge about weaning was good but about demand feeding was poor. Doctors were the preferred counselor (87.5%) and not enough breast milk was the main reason for discontinuing breastfeeding. Mothers had good knowledge about breastfeeding practices. But there is a gap between knowledge and practice which needs to be addressed. Doctors should play a key role in educating nursing mothers as nursing mothers rely heavily on doctors for consultation.