Knowledge and practices about breastfeeding in rural areas of Rajshahi District, Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study

Background: Breastfeeding is an important indicator for child health and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the level of knowledge and practices regarding EBF and its relation to various socio-economic and demographic factors among mothers with at least one child age (6-12 years) in the rural areas of the Rajshahi district in Bangladesh. Methods: A study based at village hospitals was conducted and a semi-structured questionnaire was used. A total of 513 mothers who had at least one child's age (6-12) months from 32 different village hospitals in rural areas of the Rajshahi District, Bangladesh from September to December 2015. The composite index, chi-square test and binary logistic regression model were used in this study. Results: The incidence of EBF good knowledge and practices was 32.0% and 27.9% among mothers with at least one child age (6-12) months. The analysis shows that the age of mothers ≥ 31 years have less knowledge and practice about EBF compared to mothers aged ≤ 30 years. Mothers who are housewives had a higher probability of good knowledge and practice than mothers who were service providers. Nursing mothers at home have less knowledge and practices about EBF than mothers who gave birth in the hospital. Mothers that had a monthly family income of ≤ 6 699 BDT had less knowledge and practices about EBF compared to mothers with a family income of >6 699 BDT. Conclusions: This study showed a huge gap in EBF knowledge and practices among mothers who have at least one child age (6-12) months. This study suggests that EBF education and interventions can play an important role in increasing EBF good knowledge and practices among mothers with at least one-to-one (6-12) months of age children. Malnutrition will be reduced if the EBF is widely established in Bangladesh.