Assessment of the Nursing Mothers Attitudes on Exclusive Breast feeding, in Family Welfare Clinic, Bauchi, Nigeria
1Umar Ibrahim, 2Umar Farouk Ismail and 3Maryam Mohammed
1Nursing Department, Health and Human Services Secretariat, Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCDA Secretariat, 11 Kapital Road, Area 11, Garki, Abuja-FCTA, Nigeria
2State Coordinator/NPO Routine Immunization, World Health Organization, WHO Taraba State Office-Jalingo, Taraba State-Nigeria, West Africa
3Bauchi State MDGs Project Support Unit, No 35 Yaya Abubakar Link, GRA Bauchi
Email: iufarouk@yahoo.com, Umarsap@yahoo.com, kyallu77@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to assess Nursing Mothers Attitudes on Exclusive Breast feeding, in Family Welfare Clinic, Bauchi, Nigeria. The population used for the study consists of only nursing mothers who are attending Family Welfare Clinic (FWC). The instrument used for the study was a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Two hundred nursing mothers were randomly selected via table of random numbers among the population of nursing mothers visiting the FWC. The data were collected using a semi structured instrument which was validated by expert in the area of study. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach’s alpha. A correlation coefficient of (0.79) was obtained which indicated that the instrument is reliable for the study. The instrument was administered by the researcher and research assistant. Frequency counts, percentages and an inferential statistics of chi-square were used to analyze the result. The study revealed that most of the respondents are not aware of the benefits of exclusive breast feeding; and also the nature of some mother’s job does not permit or allowed them to practice exclusive breast feeding. It is therefore recommended that appropriate awareness through campaign jingles should be carried out in various media outlets, and also, a waiver should be given to nursing mothers to exclusively breastfeed their babies during work by their employers.