To find pre lacteal feeding practices and beliefs among women delivered in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, of tertiary care center: a cross sectional study

Breast milk is undoubtedly the best source of nutrients and antibodies. Despite the negative effects of pre lacteal feeds, in India practice of giving pre lacteal feed varies from 10.2% to as high as 90%. Objective: To find various pre lacteal feeding practices and beliefs in women delivered in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, S.M.S. Medical College, Jaipur. Material and Methods: It was a hospital based cross sectional study. 350 post partum women who gave written informed consent to participate in the study were included. A predesigned questionnaire was used to collect data regarding pre lacteal feeding practices and beliefs associated with it. Data were analyzed statistically Results: 75.7% babies received pre lacteal feed. 79.3% of them received it within 1 to 4 hour. Cow’s milk was the commonest pre lacteal feed (30.2%).Grandmother (40.4%) and grandfather (24.2%) were the most frequent provider of pre lacteal feed. The commonest belief for giving pre lacteal feed was that the child will acquire qualities of pre lacteal feed giver followed by family custom (36.6%) and insufficient milk production (28.7%) in the mother. Pre lacteal feeding differed significantly with literacy status, type of family and mode of delivery. Age of the mother and sex of the child did not affect prelacteal feeding. Conclusion: Pre lacteal feeding practices are still very high in our society because of the family customs and tradition. Repeated counseling of the expecting mothers during ante natal clinics and immediately after giving birth is required to promote exclusive breastfeeding practices and to eradicate pre lacteal feeding behaviors.