Breast Feeding in Hail Region: Pattern and Variables of Practice and Attitude in Hail Women, Saudi Arabia

Background Breastfeeding (BF) has always been the ideal feeding practice for infants. The health benefits of BF have been previously documented. BF is said to be down and there is a trend toward artificial feeding. Knowledge as well as the sociodemographic factors have been reported to affect BF. Aim of the study the current study aimed at detection of the percentage of BF among mothers attended the primary heath care centers (PHCC) in Hail region, demonstrating the percentage distribution of BF practice in relation to the sociodemographic data and determination of the level of awareness of the mothers about BF. Subject and methods The current study was carried out on mothers attended to PHCC seeking for vaccination program for their kids or to attend the health education classes through the period of 2011-2012. Using simple random sampling.1000 subjects was selected randomly from the different PHCC. A questionnaire was used to gather data about different demographic factors, knowledge, practices and attitude towards BF. Results BF different practices in relation to demographic characteristics of the mothers participating in the current study has been reported. It was found that (64.9 %) only of mothers breastfed their infants and only (22 %) have breastfed their babies for 2 years. The maternal ages were ranged from 18 44 years with a the mean age of 24.3 years. Most of the mothers have intermediate and secondary school education (45.8 %). The majority of them were multiparous (93.7 %), working (67.9 %), and delivered through the normal way (80.1 %). The number of mothers who initiated BF within one hour after delivery was 383 (59 %), while others delayed breastfeeding of their babies till after one hour postpartum. Only (30.5 %) of the mothers exclusively gave their infants breast milk for 6 months while the mean duration of BF was 11.9 months among the BF mothers. Unfortunately knowledge and attitude in the current study was not satisfactory and suboptimal. Conclusion and recommendation In spite of the great development in health services in Saudi Arabia, the current study have reported a downward trend in BF practice. So, there is a need for a national community-based BF program and for encouraging it as a part of a public health plan to decrease health risks and problems in the KSA.