Awareness and Perception of Exclusive Breastfeeding as Birth Control Measure amongst Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinic in Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigates rural pregnant women’s perception and understanding of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) as not just important in a child’s early development but also as a birth control measure. The research design was a case study as only one health facility was studied. The population for the study was all the women attending antenatal clinic in Fangbe Community of Bayelsa State in the month of March 2024; and they were 83 women. All the 83 women indicated willingness to be involved in the study (therefore, the population equal the sample size of the study). This study employed a quantitative research method of data collection on the awareness and perception of EBF as a birth control method. The instrument was questionnaire titled Questionnaire on Awareness and Perception of Exclusive Breastfeeding (QAPEBF) that was read out to the participants and their responses were filled in by the researchers. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using Cronbach’s Alpha and a coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage. Findings revealed that most of the participants demonstrated high awareness of the importance of breastfeeding as they were able to highlight the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for infant health and maternal well-being, but there exists a gap in their awareness of its contraceptive efficacy. The authors recommended that the potential for exclusive breastfeeding to delay the return of normal ovarian function needs to be emphasized in educational programmes used in educating expectant mothers during their antenatal classes.