Mothers' knowledge and practice regarding breast and complementary feeding of infants in Gaza Strip, Palestine
Hamza Abdeljawad, Ibrahim Riyad Abd Elrahman Abu Saleh
كلية المهن الصحية - العلوم الطبية المساندة-جامعة القدس · فلسطين
Appropriate feeding of infants is very important to avoid malnutrition and morbidity. The purpose of the study was to assess mothers' knowledge and practice regarding breast and complementary feeding of infants in the Gaza Strip (GS), and to determine the factors associated with level of knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding (EBF & CF). The study utilized descriptive, cross-sectional design. The sample of the study was convenient and consecutive, consisted of 375 mothers of infants aged seven to twelve months. The mothers who met inclusion criteria were selected during their visits to the governmental Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) in the GS for vaccination of their infants including Jabalia Martyrs PHCC, Al Rimal Martyrs PHCC, Al Daj PHCC, Al Zaytoon PHCC, Deir Al-Balah Martyrs PHCC, Khan Younis Martyrs PHCC, and Rafah Martyrs PHCC. The study has been conducted during the period from February 2021 to November 2021. For data collection, the researcher developed a self-administered questionnaire to measure the knowledge and practice of mothers regarding EBF and CF. A pilot study was conducted on 37 questionnaires, clarity and content validity of the questionnaire was examined by a group of experts, reliability was examined and alpha coefficient was 0.789. Ethical approval was obtained from Helsinki Committee and consent form was attached to each questionnaire for respondents, as well as administrative approval for data collection was obtained from the Ministry of Health. The results showed that 85.6% of mothers were housewives, 37.3% have university education, mean income was 923.81 NIS, 81.6% delivered in a governmental hospital. Infants’ characteristics indicated that 86.9% were full-term, mean birth weight was 3,257g. The results also showed that 78.4% of mothers received information about EBF during antenatal care (ANC) visits as well 79.5% received information about CF. 96.8% of mothers initiated BF within first hour after delivery, 68.5% of mothers breastfeeds their infants for more than six months, and 47.5% gave their infants artificial milk, and 40% of mothers started CF at six months. There was moderate level of knowledge (75.94%) and practice (66.08%) of EBF, and moderate level of knowledge (75.73%) and practice (73.82%) of CF. There was significant relationship between knowledge and practice of EBF (r= 0.464), and knowledge and practice of CF (r= 0.525). Significant better knowledge and practice of EBF was observed among mothers from the North governorate, mothers with secondary and university education, mothers who had one to three pregnancies, mothers who had ≥5 years spacing between pregnancies, and mothers who delivered by normal vaginal delivery. Significant poor knowledge and practice of EBF was observed among mothers of family size of nine members and more, mothers with seven deliveries and more, and mothers with seven live children and more. The results also indicated that mothers who delivered at governmental hospitals showed poor practice of CF, and mothers with five years and more spacing between pregnancies showed better level of knowledge and practice of CF. The study concluded that there was moderate level of knowledge and practice of EBF and CF. Several factors have significant influence on knowledge and practice of EBF and CF including place of residency, mothers’ level of education, work, income, number of pregnancies and deliveries, and family size. The study recommended more efforts to emphasize maternal knowledge regarding EBF and CF of infants.