An Investigation of Breastfeeding Practices of Mothers With Babies of 0-24 Months: The Sample of Tokat

Abstract

Feeding with breast milk is extremely necessary and important for sustain and protection of health, development of the newborn's. This descriptive study was planned and conducted to determine the practices of mothers with babies between 0-24 months in the field of application of breast milk, breastfeeding, and infant nutrition. The universe of the study consisted of mothers with babies between 0-24 months registered in Bağlar No. 1, Erenler No. 2, 75th year Education and No. 4-5-6 Central Health Centers located in Tokat city center. The sample of the study included 370 mothers who agreed to participate in the study. The research data was collected by face to face interview method with the questionnaire, developed by the researchers, between February 2014 and July 2014. The questionnaire consists of a “personal information form” covering the socio-demographic characteristics of mothers and their families, and a variety of questions prepared to determine the mothers' practices on breastfeeding and infant nutrition. In the evaluation of the data, the SPSS package program was used, and the necessary statistical analyses were performed.The average age of the mothers was 29.21±5.0 years, and 35.9% were in the 24-28 age group. The majority of mothers (94.1%) had a primary education degree, while close to half of their spouses (46.2%) had a bachelor's degree or higher. 73.8% of mothers are housewives. It is seen that 78.1% of the participants had a nuclear family and 21.9% had an extended family. The Breastfeeding rate of babies in the first half hour after birth was determined as 60.8%. In the study, it was found that the big majority of mothers (92.7%) gave their babies breast milk as the first food after birth. 87.3% of mothers stated that they started to complementary foods. It was determined that more than half (56.0%) of mothers (n = 323) who started complementary foods, started complementary foods after 6th months. Breast milk; although it is the essential nutrient for the growth and development of infants, it is seen that there are deficiencies of breast milk and complementary foods in our country. Although the rates of breastfeeding in our study were better than the general data of our country, mothers need information and support on, in the field such as starting and maintaining breastfeeding successfully, the time of first breastfeeding, feed with breast milk only, and timely start-up of complementary foods. For this purpose, support provided by educated persons increases the feeding time of the mother's baby with “breast milk only” and may be one of the most important practices in the proper feeding of babies.

Keywords

• Breastfeeding,breast milk

References

1. References 1 Aytekin A, Sarıkaya P, Küçükoğlu S. Investigation of the attitudes of working and nonworking mothers regarding infant feeding. Med Bull Sisli Eftal Hosp 2015;49(1):68-75. 2 Baumslag, N. Anne Sütü ile Beslenme Eğilimleri ve Etkileyen Etmenler. Çocuk Sağlığı ve Hastalıkları Dergisi 34 (1991): 321-344. 3 Battaloğlu İB. Breastfeeding related practices of 15-49 years old mothers and influencing factors. Türk Aile Hek Derg 2013; 17(2):51-5 4 Black RE, Allen LH, Bhutta ZA, Caulfield LE, de Onis M, Ezzati M, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition: global and regional exposures and health consequences. Lancet. 2008;371:243–60. 5 Cetinkaya, F, Senol V, Celer R, Bebek A, and Ozturk Y. Kayseri’de Kentsel Alanda 12-36 Aylık Cocuklarda Anne Sutu Alma Durumu. Cocuk Saglıgı ve Hastaliklari Dergisi, 1999; 42: 375-388. 6 Çatak B, Sütlü S, Kılınç AS, Bağ D. Breastfeeding and nutrition patterns of babies in Burdur. Pam Tıp Derg 2012;5(3):115-22. 7 Çınar N, Köse D, Doğu Ö. Breast feeding in multiple babies. Sakarya Medical Journal 2012;2(3):115-21. 8 Dalgıç N, Hızel S, Köse MR. Knowledge and behaviour about breast feeding in ten central provinces of Ankara. A.Ü. Tıp Fakültesi Mecmuası 1998;51(3):137-43. 9 Eker A, Yurdakul M. The knowledge and practices mothers to related of baby feeding and breastfeeding. STED 2006;15(9):158-63 10 Gunay, I., Mermer G, Mermer N, T.ve Gunay and Oguz T. Kemalpasa Ilce Merkezinde Emzirme Durumu. II. Ulusal Ana Cocuk Saglığı Kongresi. Program ve Ozet Kitabı, Istanbul, 2003. 11 Hanif HM, Trends in breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices in Pakistan, 1990–2007, International Breastfeeding Journal, vol. 6, article 15, 2011. 12 Karaçam Z, Kitiş Y. What do midwives and nurses in Turkey know about nutrition in the first six months of life. Midwifery 2005;21(1): 61-70 13 Kaya D, Pirinçci E. [Knowledge and practice of the mothers having 0-24 month old babies about the breast milk and breastfeeding]. TAF Prev Med Bull 2009;8(6):479-84. 14 Kramer MS, Chalmers B, Hodnett E, Sevkovskaya Z, Dzikovich I, Shapiro S, et al. Promotion of breastfeeding intervention trial: a randomized trial in the Republic of Belarus. JAMA. 2001;285:413–20. 15 Ku C and Chow SKY. Factors influencing the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among Hong Kong Chinese women: a questionnaire survey,” Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol. 19, no. 17- 18, pp. 2434–2445, 2010. 16 Motee A, Ramasawmy D, Pugo-Gunsam P, and Jeewon R. An Assessment of the Breastfeeding Practices and Infant Feeding Pattern among Mothers in Mauritius. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism 2013; 1-9. 17 Onay D, Akman M, Akdeniz S, Kacaroglu AV. Breast-feeding behaviours of the mothers. Pakistan Journal of Nutrition 2009;8(8):1126- 31. 18 Onay, D. Bebegi Olan Annelerin Anne Sutu Konusundaki Bilgileri ve Davranısları. Ankara Universitesi Ev Ekonomisi (Beslenme Bilimleri) Anabilim Dalı Doktora Semineri (Yayınlanmamıs). Ankara, 2005. 19 Onay Derin, D., Erdoğan, A. Annelerin Bebeklerini Emzirme Uygulamalarının İncelenmesi: Muş İli Örneği. Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Health Sciences, 2018, 3.1: 1-13. 20 Şanlıer N, Aytekin F. Analysis of knowledge level and behavior of mothers with children of 0-3 years of age concerning nutrition and diarrhea. Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi 2004;24(3):81-100. 21 Uslu, S., Can, E., Özdemir, H., & Bülbül, A. Bir Yenidoğan Ünitesinde Annelerin Anne Sütü ile Beslenme Bilgi Düzeyleri, 2010; 10(2): 82-85. 22 Yıldız A, Baran E, Akdur R, Ocaktan E, Kanyılmaz O. Breastfeeding status and effecting factors of mothers have 0-11 month’s babies at a health centre area. Ankara Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Mecmuası 2008;61(2):61-7.