Knowledge, attitudes and practices of breast feeding among lactating mothers in a tertiary care hospital in Dakshina Kannada district: a cross sectional survey

Background: Breastfeeding plays a crucial role in the general health and wellbeing of infants. However, this fact has been made to look inconsequential due to various misconceptions and lack of adequate knowledge among lactating mothers. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of breastfeeding among postnatal women in Dakshinakannada district of Karnataka, India. The objective was to educate them and encourage breastfeeding.Methods: This study is a cross-sectional survey conducted during a period of 2 months from November to January 2019 among 80 postnatal mothers regarding their KAP of breastfeeding. A questionnaire was designed from FAO guidelines for assessing nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and practices manual and The Iowa Infant Feeding Attitudes. The data was collected by a single interviewer, collaborated into a 3-point Likert scale and analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: The study shows that 81.25% of the mothers had good knowledge regarding breastfeeding, but the alarming finding was that 46.6% of them had a neutral attitude towards it.Conclusions: The study showed that there is significant possibility for enhancing breastfeeding practices among lactating mothers by simple provision of supportive prenatal and postnatal counselling. The role played by healthcare workers in this context would be very imperative to accomplish millennium development goals of reducing infant mortality.

A study of microbiological analysis and its sensitivity pattern of postoperative wound infections in obstetrics and gynecology department: retrospective study in tertiary institute in Mangalore, Karnataka, India

Background: Infections acquired in hospitals are classified as nosocomial infections. Most of these infections are related to surgery, usually at the post-operative wound site. It is also termed Surgical Site Infection (SSI). Staphylococcus aureus is the documented most common organism that infect surgical wounds. This study was focused on identifying the most common microorganism documented in post-operative wound sepsis in abdomen hysterectomy surgery of obstetrics and gynaecology in a tertiary hospital in Mangalore. The aim of this study was to identify postoperative infection and to determine their current antimicrobial resistance to commonly prescribed drugs.Methods: Materials and Methods: This retrospective research was carried out in tertiary hospital with a sample size of 90 wound samples, whose records span from Jan 2014-Jan 2018.  The study involved obtaining records of subjects with cases of contamination and isolation of organisms that frequently infect post-operative wound site in abdomen hysterectomy surgery.Results: A total of 79 bacterial isolates were obtained from 95 wound culture samples. In 41 cases, the isolated culture were mono microbial, 39 cultures were polymicrobial whereas no growth was obtained in 15 cases. The results showed that Staphylococcus Aureus was the most frequently isolated organism (48.1%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (18.98%) and E. coli (17.72%).Conclusions: The study is therefore important in identifying those at risk of post-operative wound sepsis and the probable causative organisms. This will be useful in the choice of prophylactic antibiotics for treatment of high-risk patients, thereby setting up an empirical antibiogram for use.

An Observational Study Of Anencephalous Fetuses Mounted As Museum Specimen

Neural tube defects (NTDs) constitute the most frequently encountered congenital anomalies of the centralnervous system. Neural tube defects result from the defective closure of the neural tube during embryogenesis.Most defects of the brain and spinal cord result from abnormal closure of the neural folds in the third and fifthweeks of development. Anencephaly and Spina bifida are two most common types of neural tube defects.Anencephaly also known as exencephaly results due to failure of the anterior neuropore to close. Spina bifidaresults from defective neural tube closure along some or the entire length of the vertebral column. Antenataldiagnosis of the condition can be made by ultrasonography in later part of pregnancy, since the vault of the skullis absent and estimation of á fetoprotein level of the amniotic fluid. It is advisable to terminate the pregnancywhen anomalous condition is diagnosed. Better knowledge of unexpected foetal loss is the promise for betterparental counselling and for prevention of recurrences. .To prevents NTD, dietary supplements should be providedto low socioeconomic pregnant females. Periconceptional and 1st trimester folic acid supplementation is ofprime importance.