title: Assessment of knowledge and practices about breastfeeding and weaning among working and non-working mothers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the knowledge and practices of working and non-working mothers regarding breastfeeding and weaning.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study involving working and non-working mothers was conducted from May 2015 to May 2016 at different hospitals of Karachi. Data was collected from women who had at least one child aged below 5 years and who had previously breastfed their child. Non-probability quota sampling technique was used. SPSS 20 was used for data analysis..
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 414 participants, 207(50%) were non-working while 207(50%) were working mothers. The overall mean age was 29.6±6.3 years. Moreover, 277(66.9%) mothers breastfed their youngest child and a significant difference was observed among the breastfeeding practices of working and non-working mothers (p<0.05). Bottle-feeding was adopted by 320(77.9%) mothers as an alternative method although 259(62.6%) mothers were aware about the harmful effects of bottle-feeding. Home-made products were used for weaning by 389(94%) mothers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowledge and practices regarding breastfeeding showed significant difference in most of the aspects between working and non-working mothers. As for weaning, both groups had the same knowledge and practices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management, Institute of Business Management, Ziauddin University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Asif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khaliq
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management, Institute of Business Management, Ziauddin University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Mehak
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qamar
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management, Institute of Business Management, Ziauddin University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Syed Abdullah
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hussaini
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Management, Institute of Business Management, Ziauddin University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Kiran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Azam
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health Sciences, Ziauddin University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Nosheen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zehra
authors.affiliation: Final Year Students, Ziauddin University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Mujtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hussain
authors.affiliation: Final Year Students, Ziauddin University, Karachi.
authors.forename: Huzaifa Ali
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Jaliawala
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014886:Weaning; D014931:Women, Working / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Knowledge and practices, Breastfeeding, Weaning, Working and non-working mothers.