Abstract:
Background: Breast milk is important for babies because it provides security, cleanliness, and antibodies. It offers energy and nutrients for the first few months before meeting half of a child's nutritional requirements in the second year. Children are facing a variety of dietary difficulties as a result of exclusive breastfeeding habits that do not meet the suggested six-month target. This study aimed to analyze nursing mothers' knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding in Ghana's South Tongu District, Volta Region.
Methods: A cross-sectional quantitative research design was adopted, with 366 nursing moms recruited from South Tongu District Hospital in South Tongu District. Nursing moms were given questionnaires to complete that assessed their knowledge and practice on exclusive breastfeeding. Data was analyzed using SPSS, using frequencies and confidence intervals, and the Chi-Square test was performed to examine the amount of connection between chosen variables at a p-value of 0.05.
Results: In a study of 366 nursing mothers, the majority (63.7%) were well-informed and conscious of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, which is limited to giving infants breast milk for the first six months of life. While 6.6% stated breastfeeding should begin when the infant screams, the majority (92.2%) said it should begin on demand. Prenatal clinics provided the bulk of information on exclusive breastfeeding (47.0%), with radio providing 3.5% of the information. 11.3%, friends (18.1%), and family (19.0%) said they obtained the information from other sources. The moms were 30.5 years old on average and 31 years old on average. The survey also discovered that the majority of moms learned about exclusive breastfeeding via radio, friends, family, antenatal clinics, and 11.3% from other sources.
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Conclusion: The study findings showed that the majority of the respondents were aware of the concept of exclusive breastfeeding. However, there was a noticeable gap in their practices. The majority, 63.39% reported they face challenges in exclusive breastfeeding with the top three breastfeeding challenges faced by mothers identified as a belief that breast milk alone is not sufficient, a short maternity leave period and low self-esteem.
