title: Breastfeeding practices among Jordanian women.
abstract: The purpose of the study was to explore Jordanian women's breastfeeding beliefs and practices including exclusive breastfeeding. A descriptive cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of 200 Jordanian mothers was used. The majority of mothers were muliparous and were recruited from primary health-care centres within 6 weeks of a normal vaginal birth or an instrumental delivery. Eligible women, who met the inclusion criteria, were invited to participate in the study. A sociodemographic data form and a 14-item questionnaire concerning different aspects of breastfeeding beliefs and practices were developed for self administration. This study indicated high early initiation of breastfeeding. Most mothers gave supplements other than breastfeeding, including water without knowing that this supplementation could affect exclusive breastfeeding or the continuation of breastfeeding. Finding of this study shed some light on the current breastfeeding practices including exclusive breastfeeding among Jordanian women. Women need to be better educated about breastfeeding. Therefore, more efforts and resources should be put into providing opportunities for education to discuss breastfeeding during antenatal care. This Jordanian study could be relevant to Arabic women in the West, because cultural beliefs and practices are likely to be part of immigrant woman's perceptions about breastfeeding practices.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. arwa@just.edu.jo
authors.forename: Arwa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oweis
authors.forename: Asmahan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tayem
authors.forename: Erika Sivarajan
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Froelicher
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018912:Arabs / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D001903:Bottle Feeding / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology; D007597:Jordan; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009042:Motivation; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011295:Prenatal Care; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult