Ogbonna C, Daboer J C
Department of Community Medicine, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria.
Niger J Med. 2007 Jul-Sep;16(3):256-60.
Exclusive Breastfeeding has been recommended the world over as the optimal feeding mode for young infants. A cross sectional study to determine the current level of knowledge and practice of nursing mothers on exclusive breastfeeding in Jos was carried out.
The target population of interest was nursing mothers who have infants aged 6-12 months in Jos, a cosmopolitan city in the north central zone of Nigeria. A pre-tested, structured close ended interviewer questionnaire was used. Four hundred and seventy nursing mothers who consented were recruited for the study through a house-to-house visit. Three assistants (two females and a male) were recruited and trained on the questionnaire administration. Data analysis was by SPSS software and chi-square test of proportion for statistical significance of association was done.
Out of the 470 nursing mothers studied 387 (82.3%) were able to define correctly exclusive breastfeeding while 315 (67.0%) practiced or were practicing exclusive breastfeeding at the time of this study. The knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding was found to increase with increasing age and better educational status of the women. Ninety six (20.4%) nursing mothers said they never breastfed their babies while in public place.
Although knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among the women were considerably high, the younger age brackets were less knowledgeable arid adherent to the practice. Targeting adolescents for exclusive breastfeeding education and sensitization is necessary in preparing them for motherhood.
全球都推荐纯母乳喂养作为婴幼儿的最佳喂养方式。在乔斯开展了一项横断面研究，以确定哺乳期母亲对纯母乳喂养的当前知识水平和实践情况。
研究的目标人群是尼日利亚中北部一个国际化城市乔斯的有6至12个月大婴儿的哺乳期母亲。使用了一份经过预测试的、结构化的封闭式访谈问卷。通过逐户走访招募了470名同意参与研究的哺乳期母亲。招募了三名助手（两名女性和一名男性）并对他们进行了问卷管理方面的培训。使用SPSS软件进行数据分析，并通过卡方检验比例来确定关联的统计学显著性。
在研究的470名哺乳期母亲中，387名（82.3%）能够正确定义纯母乳喂养，而在本研究时，315名（67.0%）正在进行或曾经进行过纯母乳喂养。发现纯母乳喂养的知识和实践随着女性年龄的增长以及教育程度的提高而增加。96名（20.4%）哺乳期母亲表示她们从未在公共场所给婴儿喂奶。
尽管女性对纯母乳喂养的知识和实践水平相当高，但较年轻的年龄组知识较少且不太坚持这种做法。针对青少年进行纯母乳喂养教育和宣传对于让她们为成为母亲做好准备是必要的。
