KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICES TOWARDS EXCLUSIVE BREAST FEEDING IN POST NATAL MOTHERS AND ITS COMPARISON BETWEEN LOW VERSUS HIGH EDUCATIONAL STATUS MOTHERS ATTENDING TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL AT MIRPUR AZAD KASHMIR. A COMPARATIVE CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Objective: To access the knowledge, attitude and practices towards exclusive breast feeding among postnatal mothers. Study Design: Comparative cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Mohi-ud-din tertiary-care hospital Mirpur, Azad-Kashmir, from Mar 2017 to Feb 2018. Methodology: Study was conducted among 200 postnatal mothers at tertiary care hospital, using a structured questionnaire by ‘recall since birth’ method. Analysis was done using SPSS version 17. Results: Majority of the mothers were breast feeders, 27% were exclusive breastfeeding and 73% initiated breast feeding within 24 hours. The multivariate logistic regression showed that females who know exclusive breast feeding duration (95%CI-014, 1.381), breastfeeding better than artificial feed (95% CI-075, 1.182), mothers with hepatitis B, exclusive breastfeeding prevents pregnancy (95% CI-134, 1.220) and colostrum helps in immunity (95% CI-233, 1.436) were more educated and favored exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: The majority mothers having good exclusive breastfeeding knowledge, initiated breastfeeding within 24 hours, had more positive attitude and practice towards exclusive breastfeeding than non-breastfeeding mothers.