Mgongo Melina, Hussein Tamara H, Stray-Pedersen Babill, Vangen Siri, Msuya Sia E, Wandel Margareta
Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
Better Health for African Mother and Child, P.O. Box 8418 Moshi, Tanzania.
Int J Pediatr. 2019 Feb 3;2019:8651010. doi: 10.1155/2019/8651010. eCollection 2019.
Breastfeeding is the best way to feed infants. It is a simple intervention to improve child health and development. Despite its advantages, there is a low global rate of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and, in Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania, EBF is rarely practiced. The aim of this paper is to explore social and cultural factors that might influence the practice of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding in Kilimanjaro region.
A qualitative design was used. Three districts in Kilimanjaro region, namely, Same, Moshi Municipal Council, and Rombo, were selected. In each district three focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with mothers with infants aged 0-12 months.
A total of 78 mothers participated in the focus group discussions. A majority of the mothers were positive towards breastfeeding. They believed that it prevents child sickness, creates happiness, and is good for family economy. Despite the positive attitudes, the mothers revealed many perceptions that interfered with breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding. These included the following: breast milk is very light and has bad odor, breastfeeding may affect mothers appearance, (abdominal pain) has to be treated, there is fear of the evil eye when breastfeeding in public places, breast milk may become unclean, and there is a need of pauses in breastfeeding after the child has burped on the breast.
There are beliefs that promote the practice of breastfeeding in this setting; these local beliefs could be used to develop breastfeeding messages to improve breastfeeding practices. However, there is also a need to address beliefs that interfere with the practice of exclusive breastfeeding in this setting.
母乳喂养是喂养婴儿的最佳方式。这是一项改善儿童健康与发育的简单干预措施。尽管有诸多益处，但全球纯母乳喂养（EBF）率较低，在坦桑尼亚的乞力马扎罗地区，纯母乳喂养很少见。本文旨在探究可能影响乞力马扎罗地区母乳喂养和纯母乳喂养行为的社会文化因素。
采用定性研究设计。选取了乞力马扎罗地区的三个区，即萨梅、莫希市议会和伦博。在每个区，与0至12个月婴儿的母亲进行了三场焦点小组讨论（FGDs）。
共有78位母亲参与了焦点小组讨论。大多数母亲对母乳喂养持积极态度。她们认为母乳喂养能预防孩子生病、带来幸福感且有利于家庭经济。尽管态度积极，但母亲们也透露了许多妨碍母乳喂养和纯母乳喂养的观念。这些观念包括：母乳很淡且有异味，母乳喂养可能影响母亲的外貌，（腹痛）必须治疗，在公共场所母乳喂养时害怕受到邪眼注视，母乳可能会变脏，以及孩子在乳房上打嗝后需要暂停母乳喂养。
在这种情况下存在促进母乳喂养的观念；这些当地观念可用于制定母乳喂养宣传信息以改善母乳喂养行为。然而，在这种情况下也有必要解决那些妨碍纯母乳喂养行为的观念。
