KNOWLEDGE AND PRACTICE OF MOTHER TOWARDS EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING

For the first six months of a baby’s life, it is recommended that he or she be fed only human milk. Breastfeeding protects a baby's immune system and ensures that he or she grows and develops normally. The goal of a recent research was to examine nursing moms’ knowledge and attitudes on exclusive breastfeeding. Dhaka, Mirpur-14, Marks Medical College & Hospital, where this research was done. Descriptive cross-sectional research was used in this study. A total of 115 nursing mothers who had just given birth were included in the study. In order to disseminate the questionnaire, a random sample method was used. SPSS Version-20 was used to analyze the data, and the results were presented in the form of a graph and a table. There were 100 percent females, 67 percent of whom were Muslim, and 100 percent of them were married. 49.6 percent of the respondents were class (HSC) qualified. Family income was 25060.87 Taka, with a standard deviation of 4672.215 Taka. Only 34(29.6 percent) of the lactating mothers began nursing within an hour of birth and 85.2 percent of the respondents gave the infant liquid breast milk during the first three days following delivery, according to the findings of the present research. During the prenatal period, 50.4 percent of respondents received counseling information from their families, the highest percentage in this research. Many participants in this study strongly agreed that breast milk should be fed to a newborn, 84.3 percent agreed that it protects the baby from illness, and 68.7 percent agreed that it should be the first feed given to a baby after birth. 70.4 percent said that breast milk alone can sustain the child for six months. This research shows that women have a strong understanding of the benefits of nursing exclusively. A large sample size is needed to describe the knowledge of the mother toward exclusive breastfeeding in the gynae ward patient department of Marks Medical College and hospital, Dhaka