Barrier and Motivation to Exclusive Breast Feeding Amongst Mothers Accessing Care at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital

This study was carried out to identify barriers and motivation for exclusive breastfeeding practice amongst mothers accessing care at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, ( UATH) — Abuja — Nigeria. The study was a cross-sectional survey that utilized a structured questionnaire in the collation of quantitative data from 288 participants. The data and result showed that approximately 53.5% of the respondents reportedly do not have enough breast milk, 13.9% think that the breast milk will not be enough for their babies because of the size of their breast, 0.69% were the students with attendant challenges, 1.4% were career women, 1.7% said their difficulty was painful nipples, one person was afraid that the baby may refuse other feeds at a later age while one respondent said it was time-consuming. It is captivating to know that, the respondents’ motivation based on whether exclusive breastfeeding is beneficial to baby and mother shows that 99.6% claimed that exclusive breastfeeding is beneficial, and contribute to the good well-being of the baby, while 98.2% declared that exclusive breastfeeding is beneficial to the nursing mother as well. The study evaluated the barriers, and motivations of the mother to tell the benefits of breast milk are natural and renewable food. Therefore, ensuring active support through an efficient health education/promotion as primary prevention in public health/clinical practice and establishing/sustaining the practices that are appropriate among mothers. Generally, the study showed some barriers to exclusive breastfeeding and their associated motivations among mothers.