Background: Breast milk is the most complete natural food available for the baby. Correct and healthy breast feeding practices were proved to be life saving for children and also proved to reduce neonatal mortality and morbidity. Avoiding pre-lacteal feeds, giving colostrum to the baby, avoiding artificial teats and pacifiers and demand on feeding are some of the healthy breastfeeding practices that should be practiced by postnatal women. If these practices are made aware of in the antenatal period itself, they will be practiced well in the postnatal period. Hence this study was intended to find the awareness and determinants of breastfeeding practices in antenatal women.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study was done in urban family welfare clinics, Hyderabad. Study was done during August 2015 - January 2016. Sample size of 160 was derived and subjects were selected using systematic random sampling. Data collection was done by interviewing the participants using pre-tested semi structured questionnaire and analyzed using MS Excel 2016 version.
Results: The awareness about harmful nature of pre-lacteal feeds and timing of initiation of breastfeeding was poor among study participants. Majority of the antenatal women had good knowledge regarding frequency of breastfeeding. Primigravidae were less aware of the healthy practices than multigravidae.
Conclusion: Most of the problems of breast feeding can be overcome and neonatal mortality and morbidity can be reduced if the woman is informed in the antenatal period itself about the healthy breastfeeding practices.
Impact Factor
2022: 6.012
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