Community Based Study of Awareness of Breastfeeding Amongst Rural Tribal Women, Preconception and During Pregnancy.

Background: Breastfeeding has nutritional, immunological, behavioral, economic benefits, provides mother-infant bonding. Understanding women’s awareness, views preconception, during pregnancy is increasingly being recognized as vital for providing effective support that would encourage best of breastfeeding. Objective: Community based study was done to know about rural tribal women’s awareness, views, about breastfeeding, preconception and during pregnancy. Materials and Methods: After institute’s ethics committee’s approval, present study was carried out in tribal communities of 100 villages where community-based mother child care activities were initiated after having developed a health facility for 24 hrs 7 days services in one of the 100 villages. Minimum 20 from each village, making a total of 2400 nonpregnant women, 1040 pregnant women of 15 to 45 years old, minimum 10 from each village became study subjects. All women were interviewed in villages. Information regarding their awareness about breastfeeding preconception and during pregnancy was collected after taking consent. Results: All 2400 women interviewed preconception said, they knew that breastmilk was best. After birth they would not give anything other than breastmilk to their babies. However only 726 (30.25%) women knew that mothers first milk after birth decreased risk of diseases, 502 (20.92%) said mothers’ milk was easily digested by baby and 1172 (48.83%) said that mothers milk helped in proper growth of baby. Out of 1040, pregnant women, 999 (96%) were aware of advantages of exclusive breastfeeding and 921 (97.7%) also favored immediate breastfeeding. Only 22 (2.3%) said initiation of breastfeeding should be delayed. Conclusion: While rural women preconception, during pregnancy were aware that breast milk was best of breastfeeding. But they were not aware about initiation of breastfeeding at the earliest, colostrum and exclusive breastfeeding which is needed even in present era.