Maternal prenatal attitudes and postnatal breast-feeding behaviours in rural Bangladesh.

Objective: To assess the relationships between maternal breast-feeding intention, attitudes, self-efficacy and knowledge at 7 months' gestation with exclusive or full breast-feeding at 3 months postpartum.

Design: Prospective cohort study with structured home interviews during pregnancy and 3 months after delivery.

Setting: Two rural sub-districts of Kishoreganj district, Bangladesh.

Maternal knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy in relation to intention to exclusively breastfeed among pregnant women in rural Bangladesh.

Achieving optimal exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) remains a challenge. Because intention is a precursor of practice, we examined factors associated with EBF intention during pregnancy in two rural sub-districts of Kishoreganj district, Bangladesh. We studied 2,400 pregnant women in their third trimester (26-32 weeks gestation).