Awareness Regarding Lactation Practices Among Lactating Women Attending Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore

Abstract: Breast feeding is essential and plays an important role in the growth and development of a child. It is recommended to breast feed child till 6 months exclusively and to start weaning foods slowly to meet the nutritional requirements for the growth and development of child. Objective: To determine the awareness regarding lactating practices among lactating mothers attending Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Lahore. 100 lactating females were selected through non- probability sampling technique. Data were collected through pre-tested questionnaire during July 2017. SPSS version 21.0 was used for data analysis. Results: According to results 94% of lactating women had awareness about breast feeding, and were breast feeding their child. 81% of mothers were aware of advantages of breast feeding, and 70% of mothers were aware of disadvantages of bottle feeding Conclusions: It was concluded that mostly mothers were aware of the importance of breastfeeding while some other mothers who had less or no education were not aware of breastfeeding and it advantages. Keyword: Breast feeding, awareness, lactating female, growth, development.