Abstract
Abstract
Background
Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is recommended for the first six months of age by the World Health Organization. Mothers’ good knowledge and positive attitude play key roles in the process of exclusive breastfeeding practices. In this study, we report on a systematic review of the literature that aimed to examine the status of mothers’ knowledge, attitude, and practices related to exclusive breastfeeding in East Africa, so as to provide clues on what can be done to improve exclusive breastfeeding.
Methods
A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature was performed. The search for literature was conducted utilizing six electronic databases, Pub med, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Embase, Science Direct, and Cochrane library, for studies published in English from January 2000 to June 2019 and conducted in East Africa. Studies focused on mothers’ knowledge, attitudes, or practices related to exclusive breastfeeding. All papers were reviewed using a predesigned data extraction form.
Results
Sixteen studies were included in the review. This review indicates that almost 96.2% of mothers had ever heard about EBF, 84.4% were aware of EBF, and 49.2% knew that the duration of EBF was the first six months only. In addition, 42.1% of mothers disagreed and 24.0% strongly disagreed that giving breast milk for a newborn immediately and within an hour is important, and 47.9% disagreed that discarding the colostrum is important. However, 42.0% of mothers preferred to feed their babies for the first six months breast milk alone. In contrast, 55.9% of them had practiced exclusive breastfeeding for at least six months.
Conclusions
Exclusively breastfeeding among our sample is suboptimal, compared to the current WHO recommendations. Thus, it is important to provide antenatal and early postpartum education and periodical breastfeeding counseling, to improve maternal attitudes and knowledge toward breastfeeding practices.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Obstetrics and Gynecology,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Reference57 articles.
1. WHO.WHA Global Nutrition Targets 2025: Breastfeeding Policy Brief 2014. http://www.who.int/nutrition/topics/globaltargets_breastfeeding_policybrief.pdf.
2. Hossain M, Islam A, Kamarul T, Hossain G. Exclusive breastfeeding practice during first six months of an infant's life in Bangladesh: a country based cross-sectional study. BMC Pediatr. 2018;18:93.
3. UNICEF. Breastfeeding: A Mother’s Gift, for Every Child .2018.UNICEF: United Nations Children’s Fund. https://www.unicef.org/publications/index_102824.html. Accessed 23 Jun 1019.
4. Idris SM, Tafang AGO, Elgorashi A. Factors influencing exclusive breastfeeding among mother with infant age 0-6 months. International Journal of Science and Research. 2015;4(8):28–33.
5. Al-Binali AM. Breastfeeding knowledge, attitude, and practice among school teachers in Abha female educational district, southwestern Saudi Arabia. Int Breastfeed J. 2012;7:10.
Cited by
49 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献