Pregnant & Lactating Mothers’ Attitudes and Practice of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding at King Fahd Hospital of University (KFHU) – Khobar, Saudi Arabia: Appraisal of Baby Friendly Hospital Initiatives

Background: World Health organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have been recommended the application of the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding of the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) in order to promote & support breastfeeding. The aim of this study was to assess pregnant and lactating mothers' attitudes and practice of ten steps to successful breastfeeding at KFHU. Methods: Data was collected using interview questionnaire sheet from pregnant ladies in the third trimester (N=73) and lactating mothers (N=84) who are delivered and have infants from 6 hours up to 6 months of life at KFHU. Results: more than two thirds of the sample has secondary or university education. Majority of mothers breastfed their previous children but 36.9% of them discontinued breastfeeding before 6 months. Health education addressing breastfeeding was given only for 16.6% of the total sample. Mothers agree to feed their babies on demand (74.5%), day and night (82.8%), to continue breastfeeding up to 2 years (75.8%), while 47.8% were agree to exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months.Conclusion: Although there was a clear agreement about the steps to successful breastfeeding among pregnant & lactating mothers, the actual practice of these steps are obviously incongruent with BFHI criteria for accreditation. Recommendation: health education, training and support for all pregnant and lactating mothers are crucial elements to promote breastfeeding, as well as the hospital policy taking into consideration to turn the BFHI into practice for the purpose of accreditation. Keywords: Breastfeeding, attitudes, practice, Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative