Relationship between Knowledge and Attitude toward Readiness of Mothers after Childbirth Desired for Exclusively 6-Months Breastfeeding

Abstract

          This research was descriptive research. The aim of the study was to study the relationship between the knowledge and attitude toward the readiness of postpartum mothers who desired to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months. The research instrument was the questionnaires consisted of part 1, knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding with a reliability value of 0.82, part 2, the attitude toward breastfeeding with a reliability value of 0.77 and part 3, the readiness of postpartum mothers who desired to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months with a reliability value of 0.75. The samples were 330 postpartum mothers admitted at the obstetrics–gynecological ward in NongKhai hospital. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and Spearman Rank correlation.     
          The research found that most of postpartum mothers admitted at the obstetrics– gynecological ward in NongKhai Hospital had knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding from 81% to 90% (146, cases 44.2%). Their total attitude toward the breastfeeding was in a high level ( = 3.79, S.D. = 0.02). The total readiness of postpartum mothers desired for exclusively 6–month breastfeeding was in a high level ( = 4.21, SD = 0.03). The relationship between knowledge about benefit of breastfeeding and attitude about breastfeeding and the readiness of postpartum mothers desired for exclusive 6-months breastfeeding were in a low level with the statistical significance of 0.01.

          Keywords: Breastfeeding, Knowledge about the benefits of breastfeeding, Attitude toward breastfeeding, Readiness of mothers desired for breastfeeding