MATERNAL AWARENESS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS TRADITIONAL GALACTOGOGUES: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN DELHI NCR, INDIA
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Abstract
Background: To explore the socio-demographic characteristics of lactating women. To understand women's awareness and attitudes towards traditional galactogogue foods whilst breastfeeding.
Methods: The study involved 400 lactating mothers, aged 18-35 years, each with an infant aged 0-6 months. These mothers had consumed traditional galactogogue foods to boost their breast-milk production. Employing a cross-sectional offline survey design, the research focused on evaluating maternal awareness and attitudes towards these traditional galactogogue foods, specifically exploring their knowledge, perceptions, and practices.
Data underwent meticulous validation, coding, and entry into Microsoft Excel. For statistical analysis, SPSS version 20.0 was utilized, employing descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to ascertain significant associations, with a significance threshold set at p≤0.05.
Results: The findings revealed that a significant majority (76.7%) of participants exclusively breastfed their infants and endorsed the use of traditional galactogogues. There was a notable correlation between maternal education and exclusive breastfeeding practices (p=0.01). Furthermore, maternal education was significantly linked with an understanding of galactogogues (p=0.01), perceptions of their safety (p=0.00), adherence to precautions (p=0.03), and their integration into postpartum care routines (p=0.01). The use of galactogogues was also associated with alleviating postpartum issues and delivery-related pain (p=0.04 and p=0.00, respectively), enhancing digestibility (p=0.04), and promoting the sharing of recipes in prenatal care (p=0.04).
Conclusion: Integrating traditional galactogogue recipes into prenatal care is crucial, but continuous safety scrutiny and education on complementary medicines are essential. Healthcare providers must prioritize educating on traditional galactogogue foods for safe and effective breast milk enhancement.