Early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding: Factors influencing the attitudes of mothers who gave birth in a baby-friendly hospital.

Tuncay Küçüközkan,Fatma Doğa Öcal,Meryem Ceyhan,Osman Fadıl Kara,Zehra Vural Yılmaz

doi:10.4274/tjod.90018

Abstract

Objective:To investigate the initation time of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding rates, and complementary feeding practices during the first six months of life among mothers who gave birth in a baby-friendly hospital.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted with 350 mothers. Demographic characteristics, obstetric history and information about breastfeeding initiation were collected at the hospital. Information about factors affecting breastfeeding duration and feeding practices of the infants were obtained at the end of six months.Results:Some 97.4% of the mothers initiated breastfeeding, 60.1% within the first hour. Exclusive breastfeeding was maintained for six months in 38.9%. Low education levels of mother/father, random breastfeeding, rare breastfeeding at night, nipple problems, bottle/pacifier use, and lack of social support were found associated with early cessation. Planned pregnancy [odds ratio (OR=2.02)] and vaginal delivery (OR=0.3) were found as the most important factors in early initiation, whereas antepartum breastfeeding education (OR=7.17) was the most important factor for exclusive breastfeeding duration in the logistic analysis. More than half (61.1%) of the infants were partially/bottle fed for six months; the most common reason was the belief that breast milk was insufficient.Conclusion:Efforts to encourage mothers and society to breastfeed exclusively should be made as part of a primary public health strategy to prevent early cessation of breastfeeding.

Highlights

The recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) is exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) of infants during the first six months of life, and breastfeeding (BF) for two years or beyond with complementary foods for achieving optimal growth and health[1]
It has been shown that advanced age, higher maternal educational level, higher socioeconomic status, BF education, social support, and an infant with birthweight over 3 kg and >38 weeks gestation have a positive affect on BF[6,7,8,9,10,11]
According to the Turkish Population and Health Survey (TPHS) 2013 report, BF is very common in Turkey, with 96% of children breastfed for some period

Summary

Introduction

The recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO) is exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) of infants during the first six months of life, and breastfeeding (BF) for two years or beyond with complementary foods for achieving optimal growth and health[1]. Despite all recommendations of the WHO, the rates of initiation and duration of BF are still far from expectations worldwide. Various factors have been shown associated with both the initiation and duration of BF. Despite many encouraging studies condected in our country, both early initiation and exclusive BF rates are still far below the desired levels. The main objective of the present study was to determine the initation time of BF and complementary feeding practices during the first six months of life among Turkish mothers who gave birth in a baby-friendly hospital, risk factors associated with lack of early initiation, and EBF

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion