EFFECT OF HEALTH EDUCATION INTERVENTION ON AWARENESS REGARDING BREASTFEEDING PRACTICES AMONG WOMEN OF RURAL KANPUR

Background Breast feeding provides ideal food for growth and development of infant by providing adequate nutrition and boosting immune system, thus protects the infant against infections. Early initiation of breast feeding lowers the mother’s risk of postpartum haemorrhage, anemia, osteoporosis and delays next pregnancy. Objectives ? To study the level of awareness regarding breast feeding practices among study subjects. ? To assess improvement in knowledge and awareness regarding breast feeding practices following health education. Material and Methods A longitudinal study was conducted among females in the rural areas served by RHTC, Kalyanpur, Kanpur. A sample of 384 females with at least 1 child(<5year) was selected. All females were informed about the purpose of study and consent was taken for the same. Following a base line survey regarding awareness of breast feeding practices, health education was imparted through charts and illustrations to all the study subjects. The awareness level was reassessed after one month. The data collected was compiled using MS Excel and analysed using SPSS 20.0 software. Percentages were used to analyse categorical variables. Results Only 32.72%mothers knew about disadvantages of prelacteal feed, but after health education, awareness rose to 81.81%. The awareness regarding correct time of initiating breast feed was 10.9% & 63.63% before & after intervention respectively. Around 29.09% knew about benefits of colostrum, 54.54%were aware of exclusive breast feeding(EBF) up to 6 months,41.81%were aware of importance of BF and 23.63%were aware that breastfeed should be continued till 2 years of age. After intervention, these results were 74.54%, 83.63%, 76.36% & 67.27% respectively. Thus, there was significant improvement in level of awareness after health education. Conclusions The study clearly highlights the increase in the awareness of breast feeding practices after health education