Osibogun Osiyosola O, Olufunlayo Tolulope F, Oyibo Samson O
1Department of Community Health and Primary Care, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria.
2Department of Medicine, Peterborough City Hospital, Bretton Gate, Peterborough, PE3 9GZ UK.
Int Breastfeed J. 2018 Aug 22;13:38. doi: 10.1186/s13006-018-0182-9. eCollection 2018.
Breastfeeding is a recognized means of ensuring optimal nutrition for the infant. Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as feeding an infant child breast milk only, and for optimal nutrition it is recommended that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life. Without workplace support, exclusive breastfeeding is difficult for working mothers who return to work. The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge, attitude, and support for exclusive breastfeeding among female bank workers in Lagos, Nigeria.
This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A total of 210 mothers from all banks in Mainland Local Government, Lagos State were selected using systematic sampling, with a response rate of 95%, so we had 200 respondents. A pretested, structured, self-administered questionnaire adapted from previous studies was used for data collection.
The mean age of the respondents in this study was 33 years (range 21- 50 years). Of the 200 respondents 188 (94%) had a good knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding and 173 (86.5%) of them reported that the hospital was their source of information. More than 180 (90%) respondents had a positive attitude towards exclusive breastfeeding. Exclusive breastfeeding was practiced by 112 (56%) of the respondents, however, only 57 (28.5%) practiced exclusive breastfeeding for up to 6 months postdelivery. The major source of breastfeeding support came from the baby's father for 88 (44%) respondents while the least breastfeeding support came from the workplace for three (1.5%) respondents. The duration of maternity leave was mostly 3 months, and less than 20 (10%) respondents reported having support for breastfeeding at the workplace.
In spite of the good knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding among the respondents as well as their positive attitude, the exclusive breastfeeding rate up to 6 months postpartum was very low. This may be related to the inadequate breastfeeding support from the various support systems especially in the workplace, as demonstrated in this survey. There should be advocacy for a government policy for a mandatory 6 month maternity leave for all working mothers.
母乳喂养是确保婴儿获得最佳营养的公认方式。纯母乳喂养被定义为仅用母乳喂养婴儿，为实现最佳营养，建议婴儿在出生后的前6个月进行纯母乳喂养。如果没有工作场所的支持，重返工作岗位的职业母亲很难实现纯母乳喂养。本研究的目的是调查尼日利亚拉各斯市女性银行职员对纯母乳喂养的知识、态度和支持情况。
这是一项横断面描述性研究。采用系统抽样的方法，从拉各斯州大陆地方政府的所有银行中选取了210名母亲，回复率为95%，因此我们得到了200名受访者。采用一份根据先前研究改编的经过预测试的结构化自填式问卷进行数据收集。
本研究中受访者的平均年龄为33岁（范围为21至50岁）。在200名受访者中，188人（94%）对纯母乳喂养有良好的了解，其中173人（86.5%）表示医院是他们的信息来源。超过180人（90%）的受访者对纯母乳喂养持积极态度。112名（56%）受访者进行了纯母乳喂养，然而，只有57人（28.5%）在产后6个月内进行了纯母乳喂养。母乳喂养支持的主要来源是婴儿的父亲，有88名（44%）受访者如此认为，而母乳喂养支持最少的来源是工作场所，只有3名（1.5%）受访者是这种情况。产假时长大多为3个月，不到20名（10%）受访者表示在工作场所有母乳喂养支持。
尽管受访者对纯母乳喂养有良好的了解且态度积极，但产后6个月内的纯母乳喂养率非常低。正如本次调查所示，这可能与各个支持系统，尤其是工作场所提供的母乳喂养支持不足有关。应该倡导政府出台政策，规定所有职业母亲享有6个月的强制产假。
