Background: Universal exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months is estimated to reduce infant mortality\nby 13ââ?¬â??15% (9 million) in resource poor countries. Although 97% of women initiate breastfeeding in Tanzania,\nexclusive breastfeeding for 6 months remains below 50%. Accurate knowledge and practical skills pertaining to\nexclusive breastfeeding among health workers is likely to improve breastfeeding rates. Our study reports the health\nworkersââ?¬â?¢ knowledge and practice on EBF in Mwanza City, northwest of Tanzania.\nMethods: One principal researcher and two research assistants conducted data collection from 11 Juneââ?¬â??6 July\n2012. In total, 220 health care workers including: 64 clinicians (medical specialists, residents, registrars, assistant\nmedical officers and clinical officers) and 156 nurses were interviewed using a structured knowledge questionnaire.\nAmongst 220 health workers, 106 were observed supporting Breastfeeding using a checklist. Logistic regression was\nused to determine factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding knowledge and desirable skills.\nResults: Almost half of the 220 health workers interviewed correctly described EBF as defined by the World Health\nOrganization. Only 52 of 220 respondents had good knowledge. In the adjusted analysis, working at hospital facility\nlevel compared to dispensary (OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.1ââ?¬â??4.0, p-value = 0.032) and attending on job training (OR 2.7; 95%\nCI 1.2ââ?¬â??6.1, p-value = 0.015) were associated with better knowledge. In total, 38% of respondents had a desirable\nlevel of practical skills. Clinicians were more likely to have good practice (OR 3.6; 95% CI 1.2ââ?¬â??10.8; p-value = 0.020)\nthan nurses. Most of the health workers had no training on EBF, and were not familiar with breastfeeding policy.\nConclusion: Less than 25% of healthcare workers surveyed had good knowledge of EBF. These findings identify the\nneed for comprehensive training and mentoring of health workers on exclusive breastfeeding, making breastfeeding\npolicies available and understood, along with supportive supervision and monitoring.
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