World Journal of
Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences

REGULATION OF BREASTFEEDING PATTERNS BY POSTNATAL MOTHERS

Dr. Chiejina E. N.*

ABSTRACT

Maternal attitudes toward breastfeeding have impact on when they commence and how long they practice breastfeeding. This study examined how postnatal mothers regulate their breastfeeding patterns. Convenient sampling method was used to select 299 postnatal mothers who visited infant welfare clinics along with their infants in two primary, two secondary and two tertiary health care institutions. Three research questions and one null hypothesis guided the study. Questionnaire on Breastfeeding Patterns of Postnatal Mothers (QPBF) and Checklist on the Health status of infants with varied Breastfeeding Patterns (CHSIVBP) were used for data collection in the study. Frequency distribution and percentages were used to answer the research questions, while chi-square test was used in testing the null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result indicated variations in the time of commencement of breastfeeding by the postnatal mothers with majority initiating breastfeeding on the day of delivery; some commenced partial breastfeeding within the first month. The result also revealed that the patterns of breastfeeding adopted by the mothers significantly influence the health status of their infants across the three levels of health care institutions.

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