MJM, Vol 70 Supplement 1 September 2015
Delay in initiating breastfeeding among mothers in
a hospital in Putrajaya
*Hospital Putrajaya, Ministry of Health, Malaysia, **Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, UPM, ***Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universti Putra Malaysia
ABSTRACT
Introduction: It is evident that breast milk is far more superior to formula milk, in terms of its nutritional values and its psychological effect on both, mother and her baby. This cross-sectional study was to determine the causes of delay in initiating breastfeeding among mothers in a hospital in Putrajaya.
Method: All mothers who delivered during the period of the study and whose baby can be breastfed were recruited in the study after approval was obtained from the appropriate authorities. Mothers who consented to the study were asked to complete an assisted self-administered questionnaire, which had been adapted with permission from Radzniwan et al. and Reassessment Tool for Breastfeeding Hospital Initiative. SPSS Version 17.0 was used to analyse all data which were collected whereby descriptive statistics to describe the sample and Chi-Square Test to determine the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. A p value £ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The prevalence of delay in initiating breastfeeding was 55.7%. Ethnicity, educational level, age and mothers who had Caesarean section delivery were the variables found to be the causes of delay in initiating breastfeeding among mothers in the hospital selected for this study.
Conclusion: Therefore, health education, physical support as well as psychological support should be targeted towards these groups of mothers, which had been identified in this hospital during the antenatal, intra-natal and postnatal stages.
