KNOWLEDGE REGARDING SELECTED POSTNATAL BREAST PROBLEMS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT AMONG POSTNATAL MOTHERS.

Abstract

Mothers’ contribution in creating a healthy population is beyond explanation. After a woman has safely negotiated the physiologic hardship of pregnancy and labour, the time comes for her body to start to adjust to the new bodily changes as well as try to revert back to the pre-pregnant state. During this period if a woman does not pay attention to the bodily needs, then it can lead to various health issues, some of which can even have an everlasting effect on life. Among the various health issues are the ones related to the breast changes like breast engorgement, plugged milk duct, breast infection, insufficient milk supply, cracked nipples and sore nipples. Mothers after delivery tend to either neglect their care or lack adequate knowledge regardingpostnatal breast problems leading them to develop severe complication at times. Thus the present study was done to assess the knowledge of postnatal mothers regarding selected postnatal breast problems and their management. A non-experimental descriptive design was adopted. Data collection was done using a structured knowledge questionnairefrom 60 conveniently selected postnatal mothersattending the postnatal services at Vadilal Sarabhai Hospital, Ahmedabad. The results revealed that majority of the postnatal mothers had inadequate/poor knowledgeregarding selected postnatal breast problems and their management whereas only 30% of themhad adequate knowledge. Copy