Keywords
Attitude
Practice
Mothers
Exclusive Breast Feeding.
How to Cite
Abstract
Background:
This study was conducted to determine breastfeeding behaviors of rural lactating mothers and the determinants of some of the important indicators of rural breastfeeding behaviors in Lahore, Pakistan.
Materials and Methods:
This study was done using a structured questionnaire. A total of 200 mothers who had babies of up to 1 year old were used as a sample. They were described by means of frequency and %age with the help of descriptive statistics. It was a cross-sectional and descriptive study.
Results:
The results indicated that 70% of wife’s and 40% of husbands of the mothers were illiterate, 60% meant that the household had a per capita income of above 400 rupees per month and also 65% indicated that the family was nuclear. The findings established that the rural differences affected breastfeeding practices, whereas the age of the mother, family type, literacy levels, family income, parity and severity did not have a significant impact on diet practices and beliefs. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was 40.8%, and majority of the women began breastfeeding on first day. 98.6% reported that motivation of breastfeeding was inspired by their professional and marital life.
Conclusion:
There should be a revision of breastfeeding habits whereby, the number of infants exposed to diseases is minimized. Rural Lahore should be underserved in terms of awareness campaign where appropriate information is provided to determine the advantages of breastfeeding and effects of non-breastfeeding.