BREASTFEEDING CHALLENGES AND PRACTICES AMONGST FEMALE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS-A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Durr-E-Najaf1*

Corresponding Author: 1.Faculty of medicine, Karachi Medical and dental college, Karachi 74700, Pakisthan.

Citations: Durr-E-Najaf. Breastfeeding Challenges and Practices Amongst Female Health Care Professionals-A Cross-Sectional Study. Eco Science Journals. 2026 3 (9).

Copyrights © 2026. This article is licensed under the Creative Common Attribution-NonCommercial-4.0-international-License-(CCBY-NC).

ASTRACT:

Background: Breastfeeding for the first six months of life is essential for optimal maternal and infant health. Despite their medical knowledge, female healthcare professionals often face workplace-related barriers that hinder recommended breastfeeding practices. This study aimed to assess breastfeeding practices and to identify challenges affecting exclusive breastfeeding among female healthcare professionals.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 246 female healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, and postgraduate trainees that are working in government hospitals who had at least one child and previous breastfeeding experience. Data were collected using a standardized self-administered questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics, breastfeeding practices, knowledge, attitudes, and workplace support. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test, and binary logistic regression were performed using SPSS. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

Results: Although participants demonstrated good knowledge and positive attitudes toward breastfeeding, only 15.9% exclusively breastfed for the recommended six months, while 84.1% discontinued before six months. Significant associations were observed between exclusive breastfeeding duration and workplace support factors, including availability of breastfeeding space (p < 0.001), milk expression facilities (p < 0.001), hospital breastfeeding policies (p = 0.004), and maternal knowledge (p = 0.036). However, multivariate logistic regression showed that none of these variables independently predicted exclusive breastfeeding duration. Long working hours, inadequate workplace facilities, insufficient maternity support and occupational stress emerged as major barriers.

Conclusion: Despite adequate knowledge regarding breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding practices among female healthcare professionals remain suboptimal due to workplace and institutional challenges. Strengthening breastfeeding friendly workplace policies, providing dedicated lactation facilities, ensuring flexible work schedules, and enhancing maternity support may improve breastfeeding continuation and maternal and child health outcomes.

Keywords: Breast feeding, maternal health, infant health, female healthcare professionals, breastfeeding practices, Cross-Sectional Study.