Breastfeeding practices among infants at Madina Teaching Hospital in Faisalabad: A comprehensive analysis.

Abstract

Objective: To gain insight into the breastfeeding practices of new mothers within a tertiary care facility. Study Design: Descriptive, Cross-sectional Approach. Setting: Department of Pediatric Medicine, Madina Teaching Hospital in Faisalabad. Period: Jan 2023 to June 2023. Methods: The study included 350 infants, of both genders, aged between 6 months and 1 year, who were attending the outpatient department for a routine checkup. Infants with congenital respiratory or cardiac conditions, as well as congenital anomalies such as cleft lip, diaphragmatic hernia, tracheoesophageal fistula, and congenital pneumonia at birth were excluded from the study. The researcher in training meticulously recorded data in the structured study Performa, utilizing this instrument to gather information on breastfeeding practices. Results: Findings revealed that 34.57% of mothers initiated breastfeeding within an hour after childbirth, while 53.43% did so between one and twenty-four hours later. Additionally, 30.57% of mothers chose not to provide their newborns with colostrum, whereas 69.43% did. Only 32.86% of women exclusively breastfed their infants. Furthermore, 35.71% of mothers fed their babies honey, 33.71% used ghutti, 17.14% opted for top feed, and 1.43% provided water. A backache hindered 32% of women from breastfeeding, while weakness affected 40.57%. Additionally, nostalgia, experienced by 13.43% of mothers, and depression experienced by 11.71%, also posed obstacles to breastfeeding. Conclusion: The study indicated that while the majority of mothers possessed knowledge about breastfeeding, there was a noticeable gap between knowledge and its application in practice. Surprisingly, a relatively small percentage of women engaged in exclusive breastfeeding.