Effectiveness of a Structured Educational Module on Knowledge, Attitude and Acceptability Related to Wet Nursing among Postnatal Mothers at a Selected Hospital, Greater Noida, and Uttar Pradesh: A Quasi-Experimental Study
This quasi-experimental study demonstrates that a structured educational module significantly improved knowledge, attitude, and acceptability regarding wet nursing among postnatal mothers in Greater Noida, India, compared to routine care.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
For most babies, the best start in life comes from their mother's own milk. It is the preferred source of nutrition, packed with the right ingredients to help an infant grow strong and fight off illness. Health organizations around the world recommend that mothers begin breastfeeding immediately after birth and continue exclusively for the first six months. But sometimes, a mother cannot produce enough milk, or her health makes it impossible for her to feed her baby directly. In these difficult moments, families have historically turned to wet nursing. This is the practice where a different woman, who is not the baby's mother, breastfeeds the infant. While this method has been common throughout history and remains important in some cultures and religious communities today, many modern mothers have never heard of it or hold strong doubts about it. Misunderstandings about how it works, safety concerns, and cultural beliefs can make women hesitant to consider it as an option when they need one.
A team of researchers in Greater Noida, India, wanted to see if clear, simple information could help mothers understand this practice better. They focused on a group of women who had just given birth and were staying in a local hospital. The team created a specific lesson plan, called a structured educational module, designed to explain what wet nursing is, why it might be needed, how it is done safely, and what the benefits are. They delivered this lesson in the local language, Hindi, using a laptop presentation and a printed pamphlet. The goal was to see if giving these mothers this specific knowledge would change how they felt about the idea and whether they would be willing to accept it if they ever faced a situation where their own milk was not available.
The study involved 126 new mothers who were divided into two equal groups. One group received the special education session, while the other group received the standard care they would normally get in the hospital, which did not include this specific lesson on wet nursing. Before the lessons began, the researchers asked everyone questions to measure what they already knew and how they felt about the topic. Five days later, they asked the same questions again to see if anything had changed. The results showed a clear difference between the two groups. The mothers who received the education saw a dramatic rise in their knowledge. Their average score on the knowledge test jumped from a low level at the start to a high level after the lesson. In contrast, the group that did not receive the special lesson showed no real change in what they knew over the same five days.
The shift in feelings was just as strong as the shift in knowledge. Before the lesson, many mothers in the educated group held neutral or negative views about wet nursing. After the session, their attitudes became much more positive. They moved from uncertainty or hesitation to a favorable outlook. When the researchers compared the two groups at the end of the study, the mothers who had been taught about wet nursing knew significantly more and felt much better about the practice than those who had not. Among the women who received the education, more than 84 percent said they would be willing to accept wet nursing if it were medically safe and if their own baby could not be fed otherwise. They also said they would recommend it to another mother in a similar situation.
The researchers noted that while the results were encouraging, the study had some limits. It took place in only one hospital, and the participants were chosen based on who was available rather than a random selection from the whole city. Because of this, the findings show what happened in that specific group at that specific time, but they do not prove that every mother in India would react the same way. The study also did not follow the mothers for a long time to see if their new attitudes lasted or if they actually used wet nursing later on. However, the immediate effect was clear: a short, culturally sensitive lesson was enough to clear up confusion and make a difficult feeding option seem like a viable and acceptable choice for many new mothers. This suggests that when families face the challenge of feeding a baby who cannot drink their mother's milk, providing them with the right information can help them make informed decisions with confidence.
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