Breastfeeding practice and knowledge among women attending primary health-care centers in Riyadh 2016.

Abstract

Breast milk is the best natural essential nutrition to newborns and infants. However, the practice of breastfeeding (BF) has declined in Saudi Arabia. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practice of BF with their determinants among mothers in Riyadh. In this cross-sectional study, 252 mothers attending the well-baby clinics in Riyadh from March 2016 to May 2017 were selected randomly with their consent and studied by a standardized questionnaire. Of the 252 women, 69.4% were 25-35 years of age and 56.7% with a bachelor degree or higher education. Nearly 75% mothers had education on BF before our study. Mixed feeding was the most preferred method (51.6%) followed by artificial milk (29.4%). The most reported reason for discontinuing BF was breast milk insufficiency (37.3%) and of breastfeed continuation was their perceived benefit (36.6%). Excellent knowledge was observed among 12.7%, good knowledge in 57.1%, and unsatisfactory level in 30.2% mothers. The regression model shows that high school education improved the knowledge by 10.9 points (<i>P</i> = 0.024) and undergraduate by 18.7 points (<i>P</i> value = 0.001) when compared to women who were literate. Women with parity >5 improved knowledge score by 17.3 points (<i>P</i> < 0.001). We observed that majority (57.1%) of Saudi mothers had a moderate level of knowledge on BF benefits and 19% had practiced exclusive BF. There is a need for better educational programs to increase awareness on its benefits for the health situation in the country on the long term.