Abstract

Exclusive breastfeeding is the practice where a child receives breast milk only from the mother or a wet nurse or expressed breast milk for the first six month of baby life. It is associated with reduction in risk of childhood urinary tract infections, bacterial meningitis, diarrheal diseases and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Despite the nutritional, economic, immunological and psychological advantages of breast milk, breastfeeding practice appears to remain below recommended level. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the effect of a nurse-based intervention on exclusive breastfeeding practice among pregnant mothers.

Quasi-experimental design was adopted to conduct the study. The populations comprised of  40 pregnant women more than 36weeks gestation attending Iperu primary health care center which formed the experimental group, and 32 pregnant women attending Ilisan primary health care center which formed the control group. Sample size was determined using Leslie Kish formula and balloting was used to select Iperu and Ilisan Primary health care centre Iperu primary health center and Ilisan primary health centre were selected, convenient sampling was adopted to select 15 participants from Iperu Primary health care center which formed the experimental group and 15 participants from Ilisan Primary health care center which formed the control group. A designed questionnaire was used to collect data on nursing mothers’ knowledge and practice regarding exclusive breastfeeding practice. Face and content validity of the instruments was ascertained by presenting them to panel of expert in the expert. The reliability of the questionnaire was ascertained using split-half method and the Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was calculated to be 0.8. The training module were also pre-tested and found suitable for the study. Data were processed using statistical package for social science (SPSS), version 21. Results were tested using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics of student t- test at 0.05 level of significance to answer the research question and test the hypothesis.

The findings of the study showed that; (a) There is no difference in pre-intervention knowledge among pregnant women in the experimental group (mean = 0.519) and control group (mean = 0.518). (b) There is no difference in pre-intervention practice among pregnant women in the experimental group (mean = 0.512) and control group (mean = 0.511). (c) There is significant difference in pregnant women’s knowledge regarding exclusive breastfeeding between the experimental and control group.  (p = 0.000). (d) There is significant difference in pregnant women’s practice regarding exclusive breastfeeding between the experimental and control group. (p = 0.009).

This study concluded that mothers’ knowledge and practice regarding exclusive breastfeeding can be improved as participants in the experimental group showed improved knowledge and practice regarding exclusive breastfeeding. This study recommended that nursing mothers should be regularly exposed to breastfeeding readiness education which is necessary for improving mothers’ knowledge and practice regarding exclusive breastfeeding practice