Traditional birth attendants' advice toward breast-feeding, immunization and oral rehydration among mothers in rural Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT

PIP: A cross-sectional study conducted in rural Bangladesh's Dhaka District compared the appropriateness and accuracy of advice given by 28 trained and 27 untrained traditional birth attendants (TBAs) on breast-feeding, immunization, and oral rehydration. In addition, perceptions of care provided by trained and untrained TBAs were analyzed through a questionnaire administered to 276 clients of these TBAs. TBAs in both groups tended to be poor, married, Islamic women with no formal education. Although the trained TBAs provided more accurate information than their untrained counterparts in terms of breast-feeding, colostrum, and when to introduce solid foods, mothers' breast-feeding knowledge and practices were unrelated to whether they had been cared for by a trained or untrained TBA. Similarly, while trained TBAs provided more correct information on both immunization and oral rehydration therapy, mothers' adherence to immunization schedules and use of rehydration when their child had diarrhea were not affected by the type of TBA who provided care. Both groups of TBAs reported providing more information to mothers about these three issues than mothers reported receiving from the TBAs. In general, maternal health practices met or exceeded expected norms.