Evaluation of mothers' knowledge and practices on breastfeeding in Babyl province

This study was carried out to determine the knowledge and practices of mothers about breastfeeding in the province of Babylon, Iraq. This study is of descriptive cross-sectional type and its population consists of breastfeeding mothers living in Babylon, Iraq. The study was conducted with 258 nursing mothers living in Babylon, Iraq between March 1, 2022 and October 31, 2022. The data of the study were collected online using a two-part questionnaire containing questions about the demographic characteristics of women and breastfeeding. Frequency analysis (number, percentage, mean), Independent Sample t-test and One Way ANOVA analyzes were used in the analysis of the data collected within the scope of the research. It was determined that 32.9% of the mothers are between the ages of 31-40, 37.2% are housewives, 36% are primary school graduates, 50% have the same income as their expenses, 52.7% reside in the province, 32.2% It was determined that 5% of them live with their spouse and children, and 37.2% of them had 2 children. In addition, it was determined that 68.6% of the mothers had breastfeeding experience and 59.3% of them breastfed for the first six months. The average of the answers given by the mothers to the "knowledge level about breastfeeding" questionnaire was 3.13±0.56, and the average of the answers to the "breastfeeding practices" questionnaire was found to be 3.11±0.50. While it was determined that breastfeeding experience, breastfeeding in the first 6 months, location, age, education and income status of mothers statistically affected the knowledge level of mothers (p<0.05), it was determined that they did not affect their breastfeeding practices statistically (p>0.05). As a result of the research, it was determined that the mothers' level of knowledge and practices about breastfeeding were at a moderate level. It is recommended that necessary counseling be given to mothers by health professionals in order to increase the knowledge of mothers about breastfeeding and to popularize successful breastfeeding practices.