Assessment of knowledge of pregnant women regarding benefits of breastfeeding

Background: breastfeeding is taken as the inexpensive,easily available,complete nutrition for every newborn child. advantageous effects of breastfeeding for both the mother and child are well recognized. however,there is evidence that rate of breast-feeding is decreasing in many developing countries. the study was carried out to evaluate the percentage of pregnant women having knowledge regarding benefits of breastfeeding. methods: 60 pregnant women were interviewed after taking an informed consent using a self-administered pre-tested questionnaire. the women visiting gynecology department of services hospital lahore were selected randomly. results: the mean age of women was 27.5 ± 4.5. the age was stratified later and we observed,80% of the women belonged to 26-30 years of age group where as 14% were in 31-35-year group and 6% were in younger age group of 20-25 year. 43% of the women were illiterate,20% had education of primary level,30% had education of secondary level,where as 7% had education of higher secondary level. 58% of the women belonged to income group less than rs. 10,000,35% were from income group rs. 10,000-20,000 and only 7% had more than rs. 20,000 income. 90% of the women were housewives and 10% were jobholders. 68% came from the extended family system whereas 32% with nuclear or single family system. conclusion: we concluded that younger mothers had less knowledge regarding the benefits of breastfeeding as compared to the elder ones. women living in extended family system had more knowledge regarding benefits of breastfeeding. mothers had major role in guiding their daughters. doctors and nurses assisting during the prenatal care period did not properly guide them. © 2017,pakistan pediatric journal. all rights reserved.