EFFECT OF NURSING-BASED INTERVENTION ON EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING PRACTICE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING TWO PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTERS

EFFECT OF NURSING-BASED INTERVENTION ON EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING PRACTICE AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING TWO PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTERS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background of the Study 

To achieve exclusivity among women, it is essential to provide nurse-based interventions, such as breastfeeding-readiness instruction, during antenatal visits. For the first six months and for the next two years, all nursing moms should exclusively breastfeed their children.

Despite breastfeeding’s benefits in terms of nutrition, finances, immunity, and psychology, its awareness and application seem to be below suggested levels.

A child’s susceptibility to communicable infections is increased when they refuse to nurse extensively; yet, for every additional month of exclusive breastfeeding, 30.1% of hospitalisations due to infection may have been avoided.

Exclusive breastfeeding may avoid 27% of lower respiratory tract infections and 53% of hospitalisations for diarrhoea per month. According to studies, exclusive breastfeeding is not as common as the WHO recommends.

The World Health Organisation recommends 90% universal coverage for exclusive breastfeeding in order to prevent 13–15% of the 9 million deaths of children under five that occur each year in low- and middle-income nations.

Between 2000 and 2007, 38% of newborns under six months old worldwide were solely breastfed; in West and Central Africa, 23% of these infants were exclusively breastfed, compared to 26% in the Middle East and North Africa.

The incidence was 39% in South Asia, 43% in East Asia and the Pacific, and 44% in Eastern and Southern Africa. According to a study conducted in England, just 25% of newborns are exclusively breastfed for 6 to 8 weeks after delivery, and 16% of moms continue to breastfeed for three to five months.

Just 13% of infants under six months old in Nigeria are exclusively breastfed, making exclusive breastfeeding rare. In Nigeria, 15.1% of infants under six months old were breastfed exclusively between 2000 and 2012.

According to a study conducted in Nigeria, just 19% of nursing moms engaged in exclusive practice. These show a high incidence and prevalence of inadequate exclusive breastfeeding, which could be brought on by pregnant women’s lack of awareness and practice in this area.