ABSTRACT
Background: breastfeeding is considered to be beneficial for both babies and mothers
Objective: this study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitude of breastfeeding among women in Al-Madina Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia
Methods: this was an analyticalcross-sectional study and it was carried out in Al- Madina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the year 2017. Data were collected by electronic self-administered semi-structured questionnaire
Results: data were collected from 388 female. The majority of the respondents were above 36 years old [48.2%]. More than half of our respondents 225 [58.0%] were unemployed and 277 [71.4%] had a college-level education or higher. 138 [35.6%] of the women were exclusively feeding their baby by breastfeeding, while the majority of the respondents 220 [56.7%] chose a mix of both breast and formula feeding. The percentage of women who received hospital education regarding breastfeeding was equal to the women who had not received the hospital education 194 [50.0%]. 175 [45.1%] of the respondents reported that health problem is the most reason that preventing them from breastfeeding their babies. Mothers believed that breastfeeding helped them by preventing breast and ovarian cancer 308 [79.4%] and the majority of the respondents 334 [86.1%] believed that breastfeeding improved the immunity and protect from different illness
Conclusion: in spite of the low percentage of exclusive breastfeeding, all the mothers were certain about the importance of breastfeeding to them and to their babies. There is a significant opportunity to improve awareness among women regarding the importance of exclusive breastfeeding