Paternal Attitude and Support Towards Breastfeeding Among First-Time Mothers in a Tertiary Care Center

Introduction:A neonatal first natural food is mother `s milk that provides the energy and nutrients required to sustain initial few months of life.Initiating and sustaining breastfeeding is the most important.Research on breastfeeding mostly investigate maternal factors.Hence,this study aimed to determine the associations of father's attitude and support with the duration of exclusive breastfeeding among new parents. Methods: The study involved 100 new parents in hi tech medical college, Bhubaneswar Odisha who were admitted in postnatal ward. Parents were interviewed using pre structured questionnaire within 48hours of delivery of their first child. Fathers' breastfeeding attitude was measured using Iowa-Infant-Feeding-Attitude-Scale, whereas paternal support using Subjective Norms and PaternalBreastfeeding-Influence-Scale questionnaires. Mothers were asked about breastfeeding practice. Results: Exclusive breastfeeding duration rates at six months was 35%.Whereas 38% and 35% of fathers had knowledge of colostrum feeding and timing of first feed initiation respectively. The average score for paternal attitude on breastfeeding was 56.0 ±6.3,indicating father's positive attitude towards breastfeeding.The mean score of paternal breastfeeding supports for subjective norms surrounding breastfeeding and overall support score were 4.3+0.6 and 4.06+0.6, respectively, demonstrating frequent paternal engaging and support in breastfeeding. Duration of exclusive breastfeeding were positively associated with the paternal attitude ( =0.23, p=0.027) and overall mean score for breastfeeding support ( =2.046,p=0.032),but negatively associated with support strategies score ( = -2.203,p=0.026).Conclusion: Overall, paternal support and positive attitude were associated with breastfeeding duration. It is important to increase public awareness on the important roles of fathers during the breastfeeding process. This will go a long way in decreasing malnutrition,morbidity and mortality in children