title: Beliefs, attitudes, and practices of breastfeeding mothers from a periurban community in South Africa.
abstract: The aim of this study was to document the breastfeeding practices, beliefs, and attitudes of periurban South African lactating mothers with infants younger than 6 months. None of the mothers (n = 115, mean age 26 +/- 6.3 years) reported exclusively breastfeeding their infants, with complementary breastfeeding being the most practiced (78%) feeding mode. Complementary foods were fed to 32% of infants by their first month of life. Perceived inadequate production of breast milk was the most common (90%) reason cited for adding foods and liquids to breastfeeds. Mothers valued use of traditional herbal preparations (muthi), with more than half (56%) of the infants having received their first dose of muthi before 1 month of age. Our study provides important data on breastfeeding practices of women living within resource-poor settings. Development of successful infant-feeding interventions aimed at promoting overall infant health can benefit from knowledge of these breastfeeding patterns.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Lindiwe
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sibeko
authors.forename: Mohammed Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dhansay
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Charlton
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Johns
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gray-Donald
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D013019:South Africa; D013383:Suburban Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014886:Weaning; D014944:World Health Organization