Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Better Health for African Mother and Child, P.O. Box 8418, Moshi, Tanzania.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2018 Aug 8;18(1):323. doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-1962-3.
World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) as the optimal way to feed infants below 6 months of age. The benefits of EBF are well documented. However, in Tanzania, EBF is still rarely practised. This study explored the knowledge, attitudes and practises of EBF among mothers in Kilimanjaro region of northern Tanzania.
This is a qualitative research study. The three districts in Kilimanjaro region namely Same, Moshi Municipal Council and Rombo districts were selected. In each district, three focus group discussions (FGDs) with mothers of infants aged 0-12 months were conducted. A total of 78 mothers participated in the focus group discussion.
The main result is that most of the mothers had a theoretical knowledge of the benefits of EBF but were not able to practise this knowledge for a range of reasons. The reasons for not practising EBF in real life included poor maternal nutrition, the pressure for women to return to work, inadequate knowledge about expressing breast milk, and perceived insufficiency of milk supply. Additionally, mothers received conflicting advice from a range of sources including close relatives, community members and health care providers, and they often choose the advice of their elders. Mothers also offered suggestions on ways to improve EBF including educating the community on the benefits of EBF.
The results show that the women need support from close relatives and employers to successfully practise EBF. This presents a need for involving close relatives in EBF interventions, as they are important sources of breastfeeding information in the community. Additionally, behavioural interventions that promote optimal breastfeeding practises might help to improve exclusive breastfeeding.
世界卫生组织（WHO）建议纯母乳喂养（EBF）是 6 个月以下婴儿的最佳喂养方式。EBF 的益处有充分的记录。然而，在坦桑尼亚，EBF 仍然很少被实践。本研究探讨了坦桑尼亚北部乞力马扎罗地区母亲对 EBF 的知识、态度和实践。
这是一项定性研究。从乞力马扎罗地区的三个地区即 Same、Moshi Municipal Council 和 Rombo 区选择。在每个地区，对 0-12 个月大婴儿的母亲进行了三次焦点小组讨论（FGD）。共有 78 位母亲参加了焦点小组讨论。
主要结果是，大多数母亲对 EBF 的益处有理论上的认识，但由于各种原因无法实践这一知识。不实际进行 EBF 的原因包括产妇营养状况不佳、妇女重返工作的压力、对挤奶知识的不足以及对母乳供应不足的看法。此外，母亲从各种来源包括近亲、社区成员和医疗保健提供者那里得到了相互矛盾的建议，她们通常选择长辈的建议。母亲还就如何改善 EBF 提出了一些建议，包括教育社区 EBF 的好处。
结果表明，妇女需要得到近亲的支持和雇主的支持才能成功实践 EBF。这需要将近亲纳入 EBF 干预措施，因为他们是社区母乳喂养信息的重要来源。此外，促进最佳母乳喂养实践的行为干预措施可能有助于提高 EBF。
