Effect of Counselling on Breastfeeding Practices Among Mothers in a Rural Area: a Cluster RandomizedControlled Trial”

Background: Despite all the efforts of the health system to promote breastfeeding, there is a wide gap between the current and expected rates of breastfeeding.Objective: To study the effect of counselling on the breastfeeding practices among antenatal mothers till the child completes 6 months of age.Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in Kaiwara PHC area, Karnataka.It had 4 subcentres, randomized such that intervention and control cluster had 2 subcentres each.In each cluster 61 third trimester antenatal mothers were recruited., They were followed up thrice, within 14 days, 3and 6 months of delivery.Intervention was given to the mothers in the form of counselling. Results:The study observed an early initiation of breastfeeding among the intervention cluster (68.9%) and control cluster (36.1%).Nearly, 70% of mothers in the intervention cluster practised breastfeeding for > 20minutes during each session compared to 42.6% in the control cluster (p<0.05).More mothers in the intervention cluster had breastfed completely from one breast before offering the other breast during each feed (55.7%) when compared to the control cluster (18%).The participants in the intervention cluster (45%) practised exclusive breastfeeding than those in the control cluster (18%). Conclusions:The number of mothers who initiated breastfeeding early, fed their babies for > 20 minutes and fed completely from one breast before offering the other breast during each feed and practiced exclusive breastfeeding increased significantly with counselling.