Evaluation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Mothers in relation to Exclusive Breastfeeding and Complementary Feeding of their Children in Clinics Served by Helen Keller International in Freetown, Sierra Leone after the Introduction of a Multi-Faceted Intervention.

摘要

Many developing countries have low rates of exclusive breastfeeding, immediate breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding practices; in turn this has lead to high infant morbidity and mortality due to acute respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections, and other diseases. A Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice (KAP) survey was done to estimate the prevalence of exclusive, immediate breastfeeding and complementary feeding among mothers who were patients of clinics in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to evaluate the effectiveness of a related educational intervention implemented in the clinics. The Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding was 64.4%, and the prevalence of complementary feeding was 46.7%. These were higher than the rates in the general population. Mothers over the age of 18 were significantly more likely to choose exclusive breastfeeding than those aged less to or equal than 18 (p.05), and mothers who gave birth at a health facility were marginally more likely to chose exclusive breastfeeding than those who did not give birth at a health facility (p.05). The training intervention has similar success to other interventions in developing countries. In conclusion, the intervention appeared to be successful, though there are other components needed to make the intervention achieve high rates of exclusive, immediate breastfeeding as well as complementary feeding in the population.