Effects of Nutrition Education Program on Lactating Mothers in Relation to Infant Feeding Practices

Abstract

Maternal and child health status is profoundly affected by infant feeding practices. In Pakistan, these practices are sub optimal which may lead to adverse outcomes. The initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, as well as good counseling of lactating mothers regarding infant weaning and introduction of complementary foods to the infants in a hygienic and clean environment, can decrease the risk of malnutrition and infections, leading to a decrease in infant morbidity and mortality. Increasing the awareness of mothers regarding recommended feeding practices is a key to improving this situation, especially in the region of South Asia. The current study was conducted with the aim of assessing the impacts of contextually developed nutrition education sessions on the knowledge and attitudes of women regarding infant feeding. A quasi experiment was conducted for this purpose. A sample of 400 lactating mothers between 20-30 years of age visiting a private post-natal clinic located in Lahore, Pakistan was selected. Half of the sample (200) was included in the experimental group and exposed to 12 weeks of educational intervention based on various audio-visual aids. Pretest and posttest knowledge and attitude scores of the women of both control and experimental groups were recorded. The results showed that women belonging to both control and experimental groups had similar knowledge regarding infant feeding at baseline (pretest). However, experimental group showed significant improvement in knowledge scores after intervention, as compared to control. The results also revealed that simple educational intervention can lead to profound improvements in maternal knowledge and attitudes regarding infant feeding. Increasing awareness is the first step in the translation of knowledge into practice. Therefore, similar interventions may be helpful in improving infant breast and complementary feeding practices. Effective implementation of nutrition education interventions that can improve the breastfeeding rates and also bring about improvement in complementary feeding practices is important for a developing country like Pakistan. This, in turn, may lead to better health outcomes for infants by reducing direct and indirect impacts of undernutrition.