Colostrum Feeding Practice and its Associated Factors among Postnatal Mothers Admitted in AMCH, Dibrugarh, Assam

Nitumoni Mahilary, Banashri Saikia

Abstract: Colostrum is the first milk produced by the mammary glands of mammals in late pregnancy just prior to giving birth and continuing through the early days of breastfeeding. The research approach adopted for the study was Quantitative Research Approach. Descriptive Research Design was used in this study to accomplish the objectives. The study was conducted among 390 postnatal mothers admitted in Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) fulfilling the criteria of sample selection for the study. Majority, 42.6% belongs to the age group ?25 year, 97.9% were married, 41.3% had primary education, 78.5% were home maker, 82.3% Hinduism, 55.4% were primipara, majority (37.4%) educational level of husband was primary education and 55.6% occupation of husbands was daily labourer. 42.3% had good, 44.1% moderate and 13.6% had poor level of practice. Majority (67.4% mothers) attended antenatal care visit, 63.1% hadn?t received counselling about colostrum feeding during ANC, 97.4% had delivered at hospital, 61.3% undergone spontaneous vaginal delivery & 78.2% started feeding within one hour. Majority (78.25) were term babies, 51.3 % babies were females, 74.4% had birth weight 2500gms-4000gms, 96.7% were singleton babies, 29.5% were the second baby. There is a positive correlation between the practice towards Colostrum feeding and Associated factors among postnatal mothers admitted in maternity ward i.e., r=0.132 & r=0.099 respectively.

Keywords: Colostrum Feeding, Practice, Associated Factors & Postnatal Mothers