Factors associated with the knowledge about breastfeeding among antenatal and postnatal women in selected rural villages of Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu: A community-based cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Addressing good breastfeeding practices among antenatal and postnatal mothers is important as it helps in bringing about a positive change in the behavior, attitude, and practice with appropriate health education. Hence, this study was done to determine the awareness level of antenatal and postnatal mothers about the breastfeeding practices and benefits and identify the factors associated with it in rural Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted this community-based cross-sectional study among 377 antenatal and postnatal mothers in the selected rural villages of Chengalpattu between October 2019 and September 2020. Details regarding the sociodemographic characteristics and awareness/knowledge about the breastfeeding were collected using pretested semistructured questionnaire. Knowledge adequacy was summarized as proportion with 95% confidence interval (CI), and factors associated with knowledge were interpreted as adjusted prevalence ratio (aPR) with 95% CI using log-binomial regression. RESULTS: About 19.6% (95% CI: 15.7%–24.0%) mothers had inadequate knowledge about breastfeeding. Women who were unemployed (aPR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.02–2.51), belonging to the lower socioeconomic status (aPR = 2.62; 95% CI: 1.80–3.82), belonging to Muslim religion (aPR = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.14–2.35), and living in joint family (aPR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.12–2.21) had significant higher risk of inadequate knowledge about breastfeeding practices compared to those who were employed, belonging to puper socioeconomic status, Hindu religion, and living in nuclear family. CONCLUSION: We found that almost one-fifth of the antenatal and/or postnatal mothers had inadequate knowledge about the breastfeeding benefits and practices. Health education sessions are required to promote the awareness about breastfeeding during antenatal and postnatal check-ups.