Benin City mothers: their beliefs concerning infant feeding and child care

One hundred and forty-three mothers residing in a representative area of Benin City were interviewed concerning their beliefs about child care, nutrition, and sources of information related to child care. Although all the mothers believed that breast-feeding was a natural procedure which should start from birth, they were not aware of the importance of breast milk to the baby. 58.7 per cent of the mothers would introduce artificial milk within the first month of life, and only 19.6 per cent would give breast milk alone for the first three months. Kwashiorkor was not widely believed to be related to protein-calorie deficiency, although some other food-related causes were given. The food taboos mentioned were not thought by the investigators to have any significant adverse effect on the sample children's health. Most of the information on health was obtained from friends and relatives and from infant welfare clinics. Recommendations are made for improvement of mothers' knowledge in total child care and use of health facilities.