A Hospital Based Study on Perception and Satisfaction Regarding Breast Feeding among Breast Feeding Mothers

Background: As stated by World Health organization (WHO), Breast feeding is an important tool which ensures child health and survival making a special note that nearly 2 out of 3 are not exclusively breast fed and a mere 41 % are exclusively breast fed for 6 months. “The satisfying feeling obtained during breastfeeding resulting from cooperation between the mother and the infant to fulfill desires or needs” is called Breastfeeding satisfaction. The study was started with the objective to assess maternal breast feeding satisfaction and to assess factors influencing maternal breast feeding satisfaction among mothers who are breast feeding in a tertiary care hospital

Methodology: This is a hospital-based study conducted in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, SDUAHER, Kolar from December 2019 to August 2020 for a period of 9 months. The sample size was determined using data from a previous study.

Results: There were 270 mothers in the study, with 82 (30.3 percent) having completed high school, 110 (40.7 percent) being between the ages of 21 and 25, 184 (68.07 percent) being Hindus, 125 (46.2 percent) belonging to Upper middle class of Modified BG Prasad's classification 2019, 199 (73.6 percent) having delivered by normal delivery, and 142 (52.7 percent) having more than one child. Out of 270 breast feeding mothers, 214(79.3%) has satisfactory knowledge, 148(54.8%) had satisfactory Attitude and only 47(17.4%) had satisfactory practice. Mothers with a higher level of education, having more than one kid, being a stay-at-home mom, and those who gave birth via normal delivery all had statistically significant higher ratings.

Conclusion: Breast feeding satisfactions were influenced by education, working position, the number of children, and family members, and were unsatisfactory in many segments.