Background Human milk offers a neonate a balanced diet for healthy growth and development, in addition to its myriad of benefits like preventing stunting, protecting against infectious and chronic diseases, and decreasing infant mortality. Objective To assess the knowledge of mothers and other factors that contribute to breastfeeding practices. Methods This is a one-year hospital-based cross-sectional study that included 400 mothers who followed up with the hospital for the healthcare of their child, aged between six and 24 months. A survey was used for data collection. Results Ninety-three percent of the mothers were from the countryside, and 78% of them were under 25 years of age. Eighty-seven percent of mothers worked at home, while 83% of mothers were part of nuclear households. Ninety-nine percent of mothers delivered their neonates at a medical facility, and 77% of mothers did so for the first time. Only 53% of mothers resorted to exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), even though 68% of mothers were aware of its significance. Thirty-six percent of mothers adopted EBF, while only 23% of women were aware that breastfeeding should be started within the first hour of childbirth. Working women (p=0.000), mothers with several children (p=0.000), mothers older than 25 years of age (p=0.002), and mothers with higher education levels than the 10th grade (p=0.000) showed good understanding and practice of breastfeeding, which was statistically significant (p<0.5). Conclusion The levels of breastfeeding awareness and practice among mothers fell short of both national statistics and WHO recommendations. All helpful information about breastfeeding should be shared with the community at large to improve the data currently available.
Keywords: awareness; breastfeeding; exclusive breast feeding; exclusive breast feeding (ebf); mother; neonatal health; nutrition; rural.
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