TITLE:
Mothers’ Knowledge and Practices on Breastfeeding in Ouagadougou
AUTHORS:
Aissata Kabore/Ouedraogo, Dénis Guerban Zare, Coumbo Boly, Chantal Zoungrana, Laure Togueyeni, Diarra YE/Ouattara
KEYWORDS:
Breastfeeding, Mother-Child Couple, Difficulties, Burkina Faso
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.16 No.5,
September
7,
2026
ABSTRACT: Introduction: In developing countries, particularly Burkina Faso, the situation of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) is worrying. Indeed, notwithstanding the implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Strategic Plan, the best practices of the IYCF remain unmet. Breast milk is the food of choice for children under six months of age. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of exclusive breastfeeding among infants aged 0 to 24 months in the Baskuy health district (Ouagadougou). Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The study took place from the 1st March to 30th April, 2021 in the Baskuy district, particularly in the maternal and child health (MCH) service of four health facilities in this district. The study population consisted of mother-child pairs attending the aforementioned health facilities, with the children aged between 0 and 24 months. A total of 381 mother-child pairs were exhaustively recruited from the four health facilities in the district, representing approximately 95 mother-child pairs recruited per facility. Results: The average age of mothers was 27.74 years ± 5.68 with extremes of 16 and 46 years. Mothers with secondary education (47.7%) and those whose occupation was housewives (34.2%) were in the majority. More than 50% of them were paucigestible and paucipare. In our serie, 9.3% of mothers had practiced exclusive breastfeeding. Factors influencing early breastfeeding were maternal age (P = 0.007), number of gestures and parity (P = 0.0001). In addition, the practice of exclusive breastfeeding is statistically associated with the mothers’ profession (P = 0.032), breastfeeding difficulties (P = 0.049), insufficient milk production (P = 0.005) and beliefs and customs (P = 0.0001). Strengthening the contribution of health services and workers to the information, awareness and support of women attending health services for any reason could contribute to positive paradigms and thus raise the level of related indicators. Conclusion: Therefore, the implementation of community-based promotional activities focusing, for example, on community and multisectoral cells for nutrition could support efforts towards optimal practice of exclusive breastfeeding.