International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | November 2019 | Vol 7 | Issue 11 Page 4171 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Seema N et al. Int J Res Med Sci. 2019 Nov;7(11):4171-4176 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Original Research Article Perception of medical students regarding breast feeding at Al Tibri Medical College and Hospital: a comparative study Nighat Seema 1 , Erum Saboohi 1 , Umer Kazi 2 , Abdul Hadi 3 , Hina Khan 4 *, Yasmeen Channa 1 , Anas Tariq 5 INTRODUCTION Breast feed is an ideal food for the newborn and is effective in ensuring child health and survival. 1 WHO recommends that breast feeding should be started within 1st hour of birth and should be continued exclusively for 1st 6 months of life and then complementary feed should be added and breast feeding should be continued along with it for 1 st two years of life. 2 Exclusive breast feed means that the infant does not receive any fluid or food other than breast feed. 3 In developing countries, infants who were not breast fed are 6-10 times more at risk of death in 1st months of life than infants who are breast fed. 4-6 1 Department of Pediatrics, 2 Department of Ophthalmology, 4 Department of Anatomy, 5 Department of Medicine, Al- Tibri Medical College and Hospital, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan 3 Student Dow University Health Sciences, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan Received: 27 August 2019 Revised: 03 September 2019 Accepted: 04 October 2019 *Correspondence: Dr. Hina Khan, E-mail: drhinasalman@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20194987 ABSTRACT Background: Breast milk is an ideal feed for infants, and it is effective in ensuring child health and survival. The study was done to assess the perception regarding breastfeeding among medical students of basic and clinical sciences and to compare knowledge regarding feeding among basic sciences with clinical sciences students. Methods: This cross-sectional survey was done at Al-Tibri Medical College and Hospital over a period of 6 months from February 2019 till July 2109. A self-generated Questionnaire was used to assess the perception of 367 medical students regarding breast feeding from basic and clinical sciences of medical students. Result was statistically analyzed using SPSS version 22. Chi-square test was used to compare qualitative data, p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 367 students participated in the study with 159(43.3%) from basic medical sciences and 208(56.7%) from clinical sciences. Out of respondents, 54.5% were females. Internet was the main source of knowledge (47.3%) as shown in the graph, 74.1% were native. Generally, the majority of students from clinical group had a better perception regarding breastfeeding initiation and continuation along with infant and maternal benefit. Clinical science group had an edge on the basic science group with reference to their perception of breastfeeding in special circumstances. Conclusions: Medical universities are the main platform for future physicians, so knowledge regarding breast feeding promotion and practices should be given from this stage. Keywords: Breast feeding, Basic science, Child health, Clinical science, Perception