Attitude and Practices of Mothers on Breastfeeding Attended at a Tertiary Hospital in Bangladesh.

This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in Pediatric Out Patient Department (OPD) of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH) from November 2013 to April 2014 to assess the knowledge and practices of the mothers about breastfeeding. Four hundred mothers having children 6 months to 2 years of age attended at OPD of MMCH for any cause were included in the study by systematic random sampling. A structured, pre-tested, interview schedule was used to collect data from mothers. All mothers were continuing to breastfeed their children. Two hundred and seventy-two (68.00%) infants received breast feeding within 1 hour after birth, while 128(32.00%) infants received breast feeding after 1 hour of birth. Of 128, in 48(37.50%) cases, mother's illness was the reason for delay in initiation of breast feeding, whereas in 70(54.69%) cases, it was due to reduced milk production on mother's statement. Pre-lacteal feeding was given in 96(24.00%) children. Among them honey was given in 24(25.00%) cases, cow's milk was given in 14(14.58%) cases, sugar water was given in 18(18.75%) cases and formula milk was given in 40(41.67%) cases. One hundred and twenty-eight (32.00%) mothers started to give their child food other than breast milk before 3 months of age and 148(37.00) mothers started to give their child food other than breast milk before 6 months of age. The reason for starting to give their child food other than breast milk before 6 months of age was mother's assumption of milk insufficiency in 166(60.14%) cases and baby's cry for hunger in 110(39.86%) cases. Formula milk was given in 120(30.00%) infants before 6 months of age. Among them 96(80.00%) mothers prepared it with larger amount of water. Plain water was given in 240(60.00%) children before the age of 6 months. One hundred and twenty-four (31.00%) children were exclusively breastfeed for first 6 months of age. Breastfeeding is almost universal in Bangladesh but the exclusive breastfeeding rate is alarmingly very low. Great emphasis is needed to educate mothers about benefits of colostrum, exclusive breastfeeding, and the harmful effects of pre-lacteal feeding.