Abstract

 Exclusive breastfeeding campaign has taken a front burner among health issues in recent times as a result of the associated childhood diseases and the increase in infant mortality across the globe, especially in developing nations.  Thus, different organizations – governments and non-governments- local, national and international have intensified and committed a lot of resources to create awareness and plead for compliance with World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation of six months exclusive breastfeeding of infants or newborns around the world. This study examines the level of awareness, compliance and the challenges confronting working mothers in relation to the six months exclusive breastfeeding recommendation of WHO.  The study was carried out in May, 2012 at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye. Ogun State, Nigeria.  It adopted the survey method.  The entire university was segmented into 11 units, out of which five units were randomly selected.  A 15-item questionnaire was administered on 250 working mothers (both academic and non-academic) with a 95.6% response rate.  The study showed that there was a high level of awareness and compliance with the WHO six months exclusive breastfeeding recommendation in spite of the challenges involved.

Key Words: Breastfeeding, Exclusive Breastfeeding, Working Mothers,

                      World Health Organization, Tertiary Institutions.

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 5, No. 2, October  2013, 139 – 149

©Delmas Communications Ltd.

About the author

*Dr. Tokunbo Alex Adaja is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Full Article

Words: 5,408; Pages: 12