The acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: Our experience in a tertiary health facility
Introduction: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is the feeding of infants with breast milk alone in the first 6 months of life. EBF is an important component of the child survival strategy and the Baby-Friendly Initiative. Exclusively breastfed babies are often at lower risk of diarrhea disease and resp...
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doaj-df806cc5d53f44cd90960826982a17212020-11-25T02:21:53ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsMuller Journal of Medical Sciences and Research0975-97272019-01-01102626510.4103/mjmsr.mjmsr_1_19The acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: Our experience in a tertiary health facilityIbrahim AliyuTaslim O LawalHalima Umar IbrahimZainab F IbrahimIntroduction: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is the feeding of infants with breast milk alone in the first 6 months of life. EBF is an important component of the child survival strategy and the Baby-Friendly Initiative. Exclusively breastfed babies are often at lower risk of diarrhea disease and respiratory tract infection, and they have a better growth pattern. Over the years, there has been a progressive decline in the acceptance of EBF by breastfeeding mothers; this study, therefore, sought to determine the acceptance of EBF among health workers. Materials and Methods: This was cross-sectional and descriptive study involving female health workers who had children while working with Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria; it was conducted between October 2017 and December 2017. Female health workers comprising doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory scientists/technicians were recruited. Pretested, structured, and self-administered questionnaires were used. Results: One hundred and twenty-three respondents were recruited for this study, and 95.1% of the respondents were aware of EBF. Among those who were aware of EBF, 61 (52.1%) correctly defined it and 82 (70.1%) practiced EBF, while among non-EBF mothers, the most common reason for not practicing EBF was the demands of their work; however, only 3 (7.3%) had good knowledge of EBF. Majority of the respondents from the clinical departments practiced EBF, and this observation was statistically significant (χ2 = 11.382, df = 4, P = 0.021). Most of the respondents from the surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology (O and G) departments could not correctly define EBF; this observation was also statistically significant (χ2 = 11.642, df = 4, P = 0.019). Conclusion: Most of the respondents in this study were aware and also practiced EBF; however, their knowledge base of EBF was dismally poor, especially those in the surgery and O and G departments .http://www.mjmsr.net/article.asp?issn=0975-9727;year=2019;volume=10;issue=2;spage=62;epage=65;aulast=Aliyuacceptanceexclusive breastfeedinghealth workersknowledgepractice |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Ibrahim Aliyu Taslim O Lawal Halima Umar Ibrahim Zainab F Ibrahim |
spellingShingle |
Ibrahim Aliyu Taslim O Lawal Halima Umar Ibrahim Zainab F Ibrahim The acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: Our experience in a tertiary health facility Muller Journal of Medical Sciences and Research acceptance exclusive breastfeeding health workers knowledge practice |
author_facet |
Ibrahim Aliyu Taslim O Lawal Halima Umar Ibrahim Zainab F Ibrahim |
author_sort |
Ibrahim Aliyu |
title |
The acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: Our experience in a tertiary health facility |
title_short |
The acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: Our experience in a tertiary health facility |
title_full |
The acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: Our experience in a tertiary health facility |
title_fullStr |
The acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: Our experience in a tertiary health facility |
title_full_unstemmed |
The acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: Our experience in a tertiary health facility |
title_sort |
acceptance and practice of exclusive breastfeeding by female health professionals: our experience in a tertiary health facility |
publisher |
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
series |
Muller Journal of Medical Sciences and Research |
issn |
0975-9727 |
publishDate |
2019-01-01 |
description |
Introduction: Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is the feeding of infants with breast milk alone in the first 6 months of life. EBF is an important component of the child survival strategy and the Baby-Friendly Initiative. Exclusively breastfed babies are often at lower risk of diarrhea disease and respiratory tract infection, and they have a better growth pattern. Over the years, there has been a progressive decline in the acceptance of EBF by breastfeeding mothers; this study, therefore, sought to determine the acceptance of EBF among health workers. Materials and Methods: This was cross-sectional and descriptive study involving female health workers who had children while working with Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria; it was conducted between October 2017 and December 2017. Female health workers comprising doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and laboratory scientists/technicians were recruited. Pretested, structured, and self-administered questionnaires were used. Results: One hundred and twenty-three respondents were recruited for this study, and 95.1% of the respondents were aware of EBF. Among those who were aware of EBF, 61 (52.1%) correctly defined it and 82 (70.1%) practiced EBF, while among non-EBF mothers, the most common reason for not practicing EBF was the demands of their work; however, only 3 (7.3%) had good knowledge of EBF. Majority of the respondents from the clinical departments practiced EBF, and this observation was statistically significant (χ2 = 11.382, df = 4, P = 0.021). Most of the respondents from the surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology (O and G) departments could not correctly define EBF; this observation was also statistically significant (χ2 = 11.642, df = 4, P = 0.019). Conclusion: Most of the respondents in this study were aware and also practiced EBF; however, their knowledge base of EBF was dismally poor, especially those in the surgery and O and G departments
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topic |
acceptance exclusive breastfeeding health workers knowledge practice |
url |
http://www.mjmsr.net/article.asp?issn=0975-9727;year=2019;volume=10;issue=2;spage=62;epage=65;aulast=Aliyu |
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