Description
Abstract
This project looks at Assessment of exclusive breastfeeding in the development of under-five children in Madonna University Teaching Hospital. The relationship between a mother and child is extremely important, especially with regard to breastfeeding habits. This relationship acts as a major predictor in the health outcome and development of the child. This study was carried out with the aim of assessing the role of exclusive breastfeeding in the development of under-five children in Madonna University Teaching Hospital, Rivers state. Three (3) objectives and research questions were formulated to guide the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was drawn from Madonna University Teaching Hospital. Simple random sampling was used to draw a sample size of two hundred and twenty (220) nursing mothers. A self-designed questionnaire was used in the data collection procedure. Data collected were analyzed using frequencies, mean and percentages. Findings revealed that exclusive breastfeeding practices were the most frequently used method by nursing mothers in breastfeeding their children. The challenges to exclusive breastfeeding practices include non-supportive workplace/home environment (75.8%), time constraints (77.9%), low educational and awareness level of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding (79.1%), stress (85.1%), and cost of maintaining a healthy diet for the mother (90.3%). Exclusive breastfeeding method was discovered to promote the health of both mother and child and to boost the immune system of the child. It was concluded that uneducated mothers find it difficult to adapt to positive changes in breastfeeding patterns and rarely breastfed their children hygienically and adequately. Among the recommendations made was the need for health inspectors to visit rural places where nursing mothers are not educated to ensure healthy hygiene practices of exclusive breastfeeding.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.