Knowledge and attitude of medical students towards breastfeeding practices

Abstract

Background: Breastfeeding is the supreme economical and certainly accessible absolute nutrition for every newborn baby. The child health indicators are alarming in our country and enable us to understand the importance of investing in mother's and children's nutrition.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 undergraduate MBBS students at Hamdard University from April 2019 till June 2019, and the samples were collected by convenient sampling technique. The sample size was calculated online by open epi website. All the undergraduate MBBS students from Hamdard University were included, and other students from Hamdard University was excluded. Oral informed consent was obtained, and the research ethics committee approved the study protocol. SPSS Version 19 was used to analyze the data.

Results: Among all 250 students, there were 106(42%) males, and year wise participation were presented. Upon asking about bottle feeding's adverse event, 160(64%) opted 'yes' answer. The majority 128(51%) oppose the statement that 'Pre-lacteal feed is the food except mother's milk can be provided to a newborn before initiating breastfeeding. It was well-known among most of the participants, 149(60%), that breastfeeding duration is two years. It was found that 76 (30%) thought that it is easy to digest, 61(24%) thought that it is an easily available product and prevent diarrhea and acute respiratory infections among babies, 27(11%) rated it cheap, 25(10%) opted sterile among advantages of breastfeeding.

Conclusion: Medical students can benefit from targeted programs to increase breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes and confidence in guiding breastfeeding mothers.