Abstract:
Background:The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative is a global program that aims to create healthcare settings that ensure optimal well-being for both babies and mothers. Despite ongoing efforts to expand this initiative, there is a paucity of evidence regarding the knowledge and attitudes of health workers towards the initiative in Ethiopia, specifically in the study areas.
Objective: To assess knowledge and attitudes of health workers towards Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative and its associated factors in Jimma town public hospital, Southwest Ethiopia, 2023.
Methods: A facility-based Cross-sectional study design was conducted among 206 health workers. Simple random sampling technique was employed. The collected data were entered into Epi Data version 4.6 and then exported to SPSS version 26. Bivariable analysis and multiple logistic regressions were done. An adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% CI and P-value < 0.05 was used to determine statistical significance.
Result: This study revealed that 74.8% of health workers had good knowledge of baby-friendly hospital initiatives, and 67.7% had a positive attitude toward them. Health workers' knowledge of the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative was significantly influenced by factors such as age [AOR=3.64, 95%CI (1.19, 11.06), having a master's degree [AOR=4.34, 95%CI (1.04, 8.06), and work experience [AOR=3.68, 95%CI (1.23, 7.39). Additionally, health workers' attitudes towards the initiative were significantly influenced by their educational status [AOR=4.15, 95% CI (1.08, 8.96], potential barriers and motivation [AOR=2.05, 95% CI (1.01, 4.16)], and top management support [AOR=2.97,95% CI (1.27,6.96).
Conclusion: There is a concern about level of poor knowledge and a negative attitude towards the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). Age, educational status, and work experience were found to be statistically significantly associated with the knowledge of health workers towards baby-friendly hospital initiatives. Moreover, the educational status of health workers, potential barriers and motivations, and top management support has been found to be statistically significantly associated with the attitudes of health workers towards the baby-friendly hospital initiative. Therefore, stakeholders should recommend and encourage the adoption of the baby-friendly hospital initiative.
