Breastfeeding Practices in Infants in the West Region of Cameroon

Background: the study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of breast-feeding in the westregion of cameroon.methods: a cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in two health facilities on 195 mother-infant pairs, seen atthe out patient and vaccination units of the bafoussam regional hospital over a period of one month from 1st to 30thseptember 2008. the socio-demographic characteristics of mothers, knowledge on breastfeeding and the practice ofbreastfeeding were studied. data was analyzed using the spss software. the chi square and student t- test were used forcomparison and results considered significant for p< 0.05.results: breastfeeding was practised by 99.48% of the mothers. only 33.8% of the mothers knew that they had to exclusivelybreastfeed up to 6 months, and 20% effectively breastfed up to 6 months. the mean duration of breastfeeding was5.06 months and negatively correlated with the number of children and the profession of the mother. in 69.74% of thewomen, nothing was given to the baby before the first breastfeed. discontinuation of breastfeeding was done averagelyaround 15.24 months and earlier in married women and in those with a higher educational level.conclusion: although the majority of parents practised breast feeding, only a minority understood its benefits, so moreshould be done to educate the community on the benefits of exclusive breast-feeding for up to six months.