PRACTICE AND CHALLENGES OF EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING AMONG MOTHERS ATTENDING INFANT WELFARE CLINIC AT UNIVERSITY OF BENIN TEACHING HOSPITAL BENIN-CITY, EDO STATE

ABSTRACT

According to WHO exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) can be defined as a practice whereby there is intake of breastmilk exclusively by an infant from his/her mother without addition of water or any other liquid or solid with exception of drops and syrup consisting vitamins, minerals or medicine for the first six month. The aim of this study was to assess the practice and the challenges of EBF among mothers attending infant welfare clinic at University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin-City. The study used quantitative, descriptive survey design in which self-administered questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 220 and analysed using the SPSS version 26. Result showed that more than half of the respondents (56.8%) are within the age range of 30-39 years and majority (93.6%) were married, most of the respondents had tertiary level of education, majority (92.7%) practice Christianity, more than half of the mothers were self employed (69.1%) with more than half (50.9%) earning 50000 – 70000naira. In this study , majority of the respondents (65%) have good knowledge on EBF and most (59.1%) got information from the health facility, while majority (90.6%) breastfed a child with only few(44.1%) carried out EBF. The most challenging factors of EBF as identified in this study were lack of support from spouse (47.3%), sociocultural pressure (50.9%), lack of support from family (53.6%), inability to achieve proper latch-on (49.1%) and inadequate maternity leave policy(53.2%). There is no significant association between occupation and level of practice of EBF among mothers attending infant welfare clinic at UBTH, Benin-City. In conclusion, mothers’ occupation do not hinder the practice of EBF. Lack of support from spouse hinders the practice of EBF. It is therefore recommended that health facility should ensure that proper health education is carried out in hospitals for pregnant women receiving antenatal care in their facility and the mothers should be encouraged to discuss what is being learnt with their spouse at home in order to get their full support. Keywords : Knowledge, Practice, Challenges, Exclusive Breastfeeding, Infant-welfare clinic