An Innovative Continuum of Care to Promote Exclusive Breastfeeding

Malnutrition and non optimal breastfeeding is one the the major cause of high infant morbidity and mortality in a developing country like Pakistan. In addition low women literacy rate,socioeconomic factors, cultural limitations,poor excess to information, misconceptions and other factors has led to low breastfeeding rates. There has also been a shift over time from home based care and delivery to antenatal care from skilled providers and deliveries within health care facilities. Which is an opportunity to strengthen breastfeeding counselling to mothers starting from health facility where mothers come for antenatal visits and by utilising other modes of counselling within the health facility (which have weak or non-existing structured breast feeding program) and when mothers home till 6 months as a continuous support. Women from different backgrounds have opportunity to get excess to complete information on benefits,misconceptions and myths of breastfeeding which is understandable and acceptable by her, to enable her to make an informed decision to initiate early, exclusively breastfeed and to continue breastfeeding till 2 years or beyond. The intervention group will receive interventions, will include a family member as a support for participant in her breastfeeding, 2 sessions of counselling on breastfeeding during participants antenatal visits,sharing of readable booklet \& video messages on Whats App application of cell phones about breastfeeding, hands on training by nurse after delivery, and continuum of support by multiple visits of lady health workers when the mothers home till 6 months. It will also include training of doctor,nurse \& lady health workers involved in the intervention. The content of intervention will contain benefits \& ideal breastfeeding practices, latching \& feeding positions,expression \& storage of breast milk, associated myths \& difficulties with solutions in breastfeeding. The control group participants will receive the routine s