Exclusive Breastfeeding Knowledge, Intention to Practice and Predictors among Primiparous Women in Enugu South-East, Nigeria.

Breastfeeding is considered as the most complete nutritional source for infants because breast milk contains the essential carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and immunological factors needed for infants to thrive and resist infection in the formative first year of life. Knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) among women is essential when promoting optimal breastfeeding practices. This cross-sectional descriptive survey assessed knowledge and intention to practice EBF and its associated factors during pregnancy among primiparous women in selected communities in Enugu State, Nigeria. A total population study that applied inclusion criteria was used to recruit 201 primiparous mothers attending their third trimester antenatal care from selected health facilities in rural and urban communities in Enugu State. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used to collect data on participants' knowledge and intention to practice EBF. Descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation were used to summarize categorical and continuous variables while Chi-square and Wald statistic tests predicted demographic data associated with knowledge status and intention to practice EBF of the participants. More than half (58.7%) of primiparous mothers had inadequate knowledge of EBF and only 62.7% had intention to exclusively breastfeed for 4-6 months. The Chi-square test result showed significant difference in the participants' place of residence (p = 0.024), EBF knowledge sources (p = 0.001), and EBF knowledge. The Wald statistic in Logistic regression model indicated the coefficient of age (p = 0.026), educational attainment (p = 0.046), EBF knowledge (p = 0.016), and sources of information about EBF (p = 0.027) to be significant predictors of good intention to practise EBF. Poor EBF knowledge and intention to practice in this population may be improved by combining facility-based and in-house methods of breastfeeding counseling, education, and support especially to intending and expectant mothers. Further studies are needed to be done using the multiparous women as well as assessing the effects of in-house EBF supportive-educative intervention to improve breastfeeding outcomes.

Complementary and alternative medicine use: Results from a descriptive study of pregnant women in Udi local Government area of Enugu state, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: The use of CAM by pregnant women is very popular in developed countries. The trend is increasing globally and lack of evidence of safety particularly when used during pregnancy may lead to complications. Pregnancy is a vulnerable period especially during the first trimester. There is scarcity of empirical evidence on CAM use particularly among women in Udi LGA of Enugu State and South East Nigeria. Moreover, studies carried out in Nigeria have been limited to herbal medicine use, which is one aspect of CAM. This study was designed to obtain information on the use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among pregnant women. METHODS: The study was a cross sectional descriptive survey of 396 pregnant women systematically drawn from twenty political wards in Udi Local Government Area (LGA) of Enugu State. Interviewer administered questionnaire developed by the researchers was used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Majority (82.1%) of the pregnant women in Udi LGA used CAM during pregnancy out of which 53.8% had used CAM in previous pregnancies. CAM used ranges from one single type to sixteen different types with biological products eg, herbal tea, herbal mixture being the most commonly used CAM. Whereas most (89.5%) of the CAM used by pregnant women was consumed orally, approximately half of the pregnant women used CAM together with conventional medicine. CONCLUSION: The use of CAM by women during pregnancy was high in Udi LGA. Therefore, maternity care providers especially midwives need to elicit CAM commonly used by women during pregnancy and counsel them appropriately for best care and safety. Researchers should focus on establishing the efficacy of CAM products.

Maternal and child health project in Nigeria.

Maternal deaths in developing countries are rooted in womens powerlessness and their unequal access to employment, finance, education, basic health care, and other resources. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, and it is an oil producing country, but Nigeria has one of the worst maternal mortality rates in Africa. These deaths were linked to deficiencies in access to health care including poor quality of health services, socio-cultural factors, and access issues related to the poor status of women. To address these problems, a participatory approach was used to bring Christian women from various denominations in Eastern Nigeria together. With technical assistance from a research unit in a university in Eastern Nigeria, the women were able to implement a Safe Motherhood project starting from needs assessment to program evaluation. Lessons learned from this program approach are discussed.