Breast-feeding knowledge and practices among mothers in Manisa, Turkey.

Objective: to determine breast-feeding knowledge and practices among mothers before and after an educational intervention on breast feeding.

Design: cross-sectional, descriptive study using a face-to-face questionnaire.

Setting: Manisa Maternity and Children's Hospital, which has Baby Friendly status.

Participants: 158 women in the early postpartum period.

Measurements And Findings: 10.8% of women were not aware that they should offer colostrum to their babies. Only 43.7% of women commenced breast feeding within the first 30 minutes of giving birth. Prior to receiving the educational intervention, 55.7% of mothers knew how often they should feed their baby, 48.7% knew that they should breast feed their baby for two years together with additional food, although 55.1% of women did not know how to hold their breast during a feed. The mean pre-test score was 9.9 (SD 2.4; range 3-13), and the mean post-test score was 12.6 (SD 0.8; range 9-13). The difference between the mean pre- and post-test scores was statistically significant (paired t = 15.3, df = 157, P < 0.001).

Conclusion And Implications For Practice: given the integral role of breast feeding in improving overall community health, regular breast-feeding counselling should be offered, particularly during the pregnancy and early postpartum period.