ABSTRACT

The importance of breast milk over all other types of milk as the main food source for infants cannot be over-emphasized as established by numerous health and nutrition organizations. Early childhood is characterized by rapid growth, development of tissues and formation of organs. Breastfeeding is the optimal method for feeding infants. All the nutritional needs of children are provided by breast milk in the right amounts and duration. In Nigeria however, young infants may not benefit from this practice as a result of poor early initiation and the use of other liquids undermining breast milk. Therefore, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding has been recognized as a very important public health tool in preventing child morbidity and mortality. Consequently, the WHO and UNICEF passed bills that recommended exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and subsequent introduction to complementary foods. However, efforts to promote exclusive breastfeeding have achieved limited success and run into severe problems due to poor understanding of the several influences on the practice. As a social institution and more importantly the basic unit of society, the aim of this study was to seek an in-depth understanding of family influences on exclusive breastfeeding and to determine the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers of infants in the Wurro-Chekke area of Yola South, Adamawa State. Using a qualitative method with unstructured interviews as data collection instrument; a total of one hundred and thirty mothers with children aged 7 to 24 months participated in the study. All interviews were audio taped, transcribed, and analyzed using several analytic procedures. Four themes emerged in relation to the forms of family influences on exclusive breastfeeding: family knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding; collective sense of duty; family beliefs and practices and learning to breastfeed. Given how the family participates and influence infant feeding practices, it is suggested that public health education must aim at increasing the awareness of family members on breastfeeding recommendations and also strive to work with traditional and community leaders so as to modify and/or discourage practices that involve feeding newborns with herbal remedies and concoctions. The results show that 23.1% of the mothers understood the correct definition and duration of EBF as recommended by the WHO. Most of the women (77%) got this information from health workers during their visits to primary health care centres while others (12.3%) got their information from health programs aired on mass media-radio. Knowledge on the benefit of EBF practice was most in mothers of age group- 20-24 years. There is a wide gap between knowledge and practice of exclusive breast feeding among mothers in Yola South Community. There is an urgent need for more programs aimed at promoting exclusive breastfeeding as well as educating and re-educating health personnel and the general public.