Knowledge, attitudes and practices of mothers of children aged 6 to 12 months on breastfeeding in the province of Sissili in Burkina Faso

---

Résumé

Background Breastfeeding practices during the first 24 months of child lives are crucial for their health, developmentand survival. However, several factors influence mothers’ sensitivity to breastfeeding.Objective The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of mothers of children aged 6to 12 months on colostrum, early breastfeeding and ablactation age.
Methods It was a cross-sectional study whose population was selected on the basis of a reasoned choice. Forthis purpose, a questionnaire was administered to 163 mothers of child aged 6 to 12 months, before and aftertheir participation at least 5 healthy infant consultation sessions coupled with culinary demonstrations in publichealth facilities in the Sissili province of Burkina Faso. Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank tests were used to analyze theassociations of variables and difference between the levels of mothers’ knowledge at the initial and final assessments,respectively.Results Among surveyed mothers, colostrum was considered good for child health by 89.6% and 99.4% of mothersat initial and final assessments respectively. Most mothers (98.2%) gave colostrum and 3 out of 4 them breastfedtheir children at the first hour after childbirth. Early breastfeeding and colostrum breastfeeding by the mother wereassociated with their occupations (P < 0.05) and their attitude on the effect of colostrum on infant health (P < 0.05).Awareness significantly increased mother’s knowledge on the benefits of colostrum, ablactation age, time andbenefits of early breastfeeding (P < 0.05). It also had a positive impact on mother’s opinion of the effect of colostrumon infant health.Conclusion Mothers’ participation in healthy infant consultation sessions combined with culinary demonstrations athealth facilities in Sissili province had a positive impact on their knowledge and attitudes on breastfeeding. This couldimprove their breastfeeding practices in future births..

Mots-clés

Colostrum, Early breastfeeding, Attitude, Practice, Burkina faso