Abstract
BackgroundDespite the World Health Organization recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life, the rate remains low both in developed and developing countries. In Ethiopia, findings regarding the prevalence of EBF have been highly variable. Antenatal care and institutional delivery are the most important factors contributing to the practice of EBF however; their effect has not been investigated in Ethiopia.MethodsIn this systematic review and meta-analysis, international databases were systematically searched. All observational studies reporting the prevalence of EBF and its association with antenatal care and institutional delivery in Ethiopia were considered. Two authors independently extracted all necessary data using a standardized data extraction format. A random effects meta-analysis model was computed to estimate the pooled prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding. Moreover, the association of antenatal care and institutional delivery with EBF was determined.ResultsAfter reviewing 619 studies, 32 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of EBF in Ethiopia was 59.3% (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 53.8, 64.8). The subgroup analysis indicated that the highest prevalence was observed in Afar region (65.6%), followed by SNNP (63.8%), and then by Oromia (61.8%). Additionally, mothers who attended antenatal visits were 2.1 times more likely to practice EBF compared to their counterparts (Odds Ratio [OR] 2.1; 95% CI 1.5, 2.8). Moreover, mothers who gave birth at a health institution were 2.2 times more likely to practice EBF compared to mothers who gave birth at home (OR 2.2; 95% CI 1.3, 3.5).ConclusionsExclusive breastfeeding in Ethiopia was significantly lower than the global recommendations. There was evidence that mothers who attended antenatal visits and who gave birth at health institutions had better EBF practices. Based on our findings, we strongly recommended that the utilization of antenatal care and institutional delivery should be improved through health extension workers.
Highlights
Despite the World Health Organization recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life, the rate remains low both in developed and developing countries
Searching strategies The current systematic review and meta-analysis was reported by using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) [52] guideline to determine the pooled prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding practice and its association with Antenatal Care (ANC) and institutional delivery in the context of Ethiopia
Association between ANC and exclusive breastfeeding In this meta-analysis, we examined the association between ANC and EBF practice by using nineteen available studies [22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 44– 49, 84]
Summary
Despite the World Health Organization recommendation of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first six months of life, the rate remains low both in developed and developing countries. Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is defined as giving breast milk to the infant, without any additional food or drink, not even water in the first 6 months of life, with the exception of vitamins, mineral supplements or medicines [4]. Almost 96% of all infant deaths that means 1.24 million deaths occur during the first 6 months of life are attributed to non-exclusive breastfeeding, this figure is substantially higher in Asian and African countries. In Ethiopia, suboptimal breastfeeding contributes to an estimated number of 70,000 infant deaths, which accounts 24% total infant death annually. These deaths could be prevented through nutritional interventions like exclusive breastfeeding [11]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
