A Study to Assess Knowledge of Postnatal Mothers Regarding Breast Engorgement

Breast care is the most neglected aspect of maternity care. Breast engorgement is a common problem among postnatal mothers. Early postpartum care is essential to diagnose and treat complications. Studies have revealed that mother's awareness and knowledge regarding breast engorgement, symptoms, factors leading to breast engorgement, prevention and management is low. Therefore, an exploratory study to assess the knowledge of postnatal mothers regarding breast engorgement in selected hospital of Ludhiana, Punjab was undertaken with the objectives: to assess the knowledge of postnatal mothers regarding breast engorgement, to ascertain the relationship with selected sociodemographic variables and to find out the deficit areas. A non-experimental, exploratory study was conducted in selected hospital of Ludhiana. The study accessible population was postnatal mothers admitted in the selected hospital of Ludhiana. 100 postnatal mothers were selected by purposive sampling technique. Data was collected from postnatal mothers by questionnaire. Data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics and presented through tables and figures. Findings revealed that majority of postnatal mothers (52%) had average knowledge regarding breast engorgement. Mean percentage of knowledge score was highest in symptoms (64.16%) and lowest in area of factors leading to breast engorgement (42.62%). Education variable was found to be associated with knowledge of postnatal mothers none of the other variables were found significantly related with the knowledge of postnatal mothers.