Original Research Article
Year: 2018 | Month: November | Volume: 8 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 56-63
Effectiveness of Nutrition Education on the Knowledge of Primigravida and Multigravida Women about Exclusive Breastfeeding in Urban Slum of New Delhi
Sunaina Thakur1, Prachi Shukla2
1M.Sc. Food and Nutrition, Department of Food and Nutrition, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi
2Assistant Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi
Corresponding Author: Sunaina Thakur
ABSTRACT
Exclusive breastfeeding is considered to be the most effective intervention for preventing child death. The present cross-sectional study was undertaken to assess the existing knowledge of primigravida and multigravida women about exclusive breastfeeding and to study the impact of nutrition education on the same. Differences in the knowledge of primigravida and multigravida women were also assessed about breastfeeding practices. The study was conducted among60 pregnant women (>30 weeks of gestation) including 28 primigravida and 32 multigravida women attending anganwadi centres in urban slums of New Delhi. Participants were selected using purposive sampling technique. The impact of nutrition education on the knowledge level of pregnant women was assessed through a scoring questionnaire. For statistical analysis paired dependent and independent t-test were used. Knowledge about exclusive breastfeeding was found to be insufficient among both primigravida and multigravida women especially among the primigravida women. Significant difference was observed in the knowledge scores of multigravida and primigravida women (t= −2.476; p<0.05). Nutrition education sessions’ using flipbook and video has shown improvement in the knowledge of the pregnant women about exclusive breastfeeding. A significant (t= −17.8; p<0.0001) difference in the total knowledge scores between pre and post knowledge of pregnant women about exclusive breastfeeding was obtained. Emphasis on providing interactive in-depth nutrition education during antenatal and postnatal period to women will help in improving their knowledge about exclusive breastfeeding and therefore the practices.
Key words: Exclusive breastfeeding, infant and young child feeding, nutrition education, primigravida women, multigravida women