Mothers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding probiotic use during pregnancy and for their infants in Turkey

Objective: The current study was conducted to determine mothers’ knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding probiotic use during pregnancy and for infants between 6 months and 2 years old. Design: The study had a cross-sectional design, and the data were collected using a Socio-demographic Information Form and a Probiotic Information and Attitude Form. The data were evaluated using frequency, percentage and χ 2 tests. Setting: Two hospitals of one province in the central Black Sea Region, Turkey. Participants: 519 mothers with infants between 6 months and 2 years old who had been hospitalised in paediatric clinics participated in the study. Results: 20·2 % of the mothers knew what a probiotic was, 33·1 % of them had knowledge of specific probiotic products and 49·7 % of them knew that breast milk contains probiotics. A statistically significant difference was found between mothers’ knowledge of probiotics and probiotic products, and their ages, education, employment, income, family structure and whether they were actively breast-feeding ( P P Conclusion: The study found that the mothers’ knowledge and practices regarding probiotics were inadequate, and that they traditionally used natural products in their daily lives. Evidence-based educational activities should be designed which include information about the definition of probiotics, and their benefits and disadvantages for mothers. Further studies are needed to determine the knowledge and attitudes of health professionals regarding the use of probiotics by mothers with infants and pregnant women

Biology · Breast feeding · Breast milk · Breastfeeding · Environmental health · Family income · Family medicine · Pregnancy · Probiotic · Significant difference · Demography · Infant Health and Development · Medicine · Pediatric health and respiratory diseases · Probiotics and Fermented Foods · Internal Medicine · Pediatrics