A study on the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Exclusive Breastfeeding among Working Mothers in the Ga West Municipality

Abstract

Background: Breastfeeding is associated with a multitude of benefits to both mother and the child. It serves as a means of preventing fatal health conditions in infants for the initial six months following their birth, and promotes the health of their mothers. A mothers‟ knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding has been reported to be a determinant of the practice of exclusive breastfeeding. The main objective of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among working mothers in the Ga West municipality. Method: A facility based cross-sectional study of working mothers within the Ga West Municipality was conducted in August 2019. 414 respondents were randomly selected from among those attending the child welfare clinics in facilities within the municipality. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among respondents. Results: A total of 424 mothers with a mean age of 29 years were involved in the study. It was found out that nursing mothers in the Ga West Municipality were generally knowledgeable about the benefits of breastfeeding, however, only about half of them knew when the first act of breastfeeding should occur. Most respondents knew that good nutrition, frequent suckling of breast by the baby and the mother having enough rest contributed to more breastmilk production, however, most did not know that breast milk could be stored. Conclusion: Generally the research found out that to a large extent attitudes and practice of respondents matched the kind of knowledge they had on breastfeeding, it was only in a few cases that attitudes and practices did not match the knowledge they had