Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey of the Recommended Infant Feeding Guidelines for HIV Positive Mothers by Primary Health Care Workers in Uyo, Nigeria

Background: Safe and appropriate feeding is a key intervention that can prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. This study aimed at determining the level of knowledge, attitude and current practice of primary health care (PHC) workers in Uyo of the recommended infant feeding guidelines for infants of HIV-infected mothers.

Methodology: This was an analytical cross-sectional study carried out among 130 primary health care workers in 15 PHCs in Uyo metropolis, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires in English and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0.

Results: Nineteen (14.6%) and 111 (85.4%) respondents had a fair and poor level of knowledge of MTCT of HIV and infant feeding options respectively. One hundred and six (81.5%) and 100 (76.9%) respondents had received training on PMTCT of HIV and infant feeding counselling for HIV-infected mothers respectively. The majority of respondents exhibited positive attitude regarding infant feeding options for HIV exposed babies. One hundred and twenty (92.3%) considered it correct for an HIV-infected woman to breastfeed her baby and 125 (96.2%) considered breast milk alone adequate food for babies in the first 6 months of life. Predictor of negative attitude was lack of training on infant feeding counseling (OR 15, P=0.02, 95%CI 1.64-138.07). Most 107 (82.3%) cited exclusive breastfeeding with introduction of complementary feeds at 6 months as the most common method accepted by their clients.

Conclusion: Gaps in the knowledge of PHC workers in Uyo on MTCT and Infant feeding options and practice were identified which can be addressed by qualitative training, effective monitoring and supportive supervision.