KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICES ABOUT EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING AMONG MOTHERS AGED 18-49 YEARS ATTENDING SEKANYONYI HEALTH CENTRE IV IN MITYANA DISTRICT. ACROSS-SECTIOAL STUDY.

Abstract

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is the situation in which an infant receives only breast milk from his/her mother or a wet nurse for the first six months and no other solids or liquids with the exception of drops or syrups consisting of vitamins, minerals, supplements or medicines.

Method: A descriptive crossectional study with quantitative approaches was used, 96 respondents were selected using simple random sampling technique, data was collected using a questionnaire and was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequencies and percentages.

Results: Study findings indicated that the respondents had good knowledge about exclusive breastfeeding since majority 90 (94%) had ever had about exclusive breastfeeding, majority 80 (83%) were aware of the duration of exclusive breastfeeding, and 50 (52%) knew that breast milk reduces the risk of some non-communicable diseases. A generally fair attitude towards EBF among mothers was achieved as 94 (97.9%) agreed that giving breast milk to a new borne within an hour of birth is important 95 (98.9%) agreed that breastfed babies are healthier than non-breastfed babies and only 16 (16.7%) agreed that EBF reduces the weight gained during pregnancy. Regarding the practice of exclusive breastfeeding, it was fairly good with majority 90 (93.8%) giving their babies the colostrum, 84 (87.5%) initiated breastfeeding within an hour of birth and 48 (50%) were still breastfeeding at the time of the study.

Conclusion: it was therefore concluded that there was a high level of knowledge, fair attitude and a fairly good practice of EBF.

Recommendation: The health workers of Sekanyonyi Health Centre IV as well as the Ministry of Health in Uganda should ensure continuous sensitization of the community about the relevance of EBF and the dangers of not doing so.