Abstract

Breastfeeding is a key tool for nourishing a baby, preventing childhood illnesses like obesity, and hypertension later on in life. In addition, it reduces the cost to the family and the entire country. Uganda to some extent faces a great deal of challenges, particularly in the health sector. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of exclusive breastfeeding in mothers with infants between 1 day to 2 years of age attending the immunization and the pediatric inpatient in Kiryandongo Hospital and to identify factors that affect exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). A cross-section descriptive survey design was used. 187 respondents were selected randomly. The data were collected using a questionnaire and the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency and percentages. The result of this study showed that 71.2 % knew the correct definition and duration of exclusive breastfeeding, 59.7% exclusively breastfeeds for the first six (6) months of life, 100% gave colostrum to their babies because they believed it provides nutrition and protection to their babies, 87% breastfed on demand. The result also showed that there is a positive attitude of mothers toward exclusive breastfeeding as 86.6% of them agreed that breast milk alone is sufficient to the baby during the first six (6) months of life as well as believed that EBF has benefits to both the infants and the mother. 51% of respondents weaned their babies between 15-18 months and 41% weaned between 19 months to 2 years. It was concluded that there was a high level of knowledge on breastfeeding among the respondents, more than half of the respondents practiced exclusive breastfeeding as recommended and relatively all the respondents had positive attitude toward exclusive breastfeeding.