Abstract
BackgroundExclusive breastfeeding is defined as the practice of providing only breast milk for an infant for the first 6 months of life without the addition of any other food or water, except for vitamins, mineral supplements, and medicines. Findings are inconsistent regarding the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Ethiopia. Full-time maternal employment is an important factor contributing to the low rates of practice of exclusive breastfeeding. Empowering women to exclusively breastfeed, by enacting 6 months’ mandatory paid maternity leave can increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life up to 50%. The purpose of this review was to estimate the pooled prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and its association with full-time maternal employment in the first 6 months of life for infants in the context of Ethiopia.MethodsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline was used in this systematic review and meta-analysis. All observational studies reporting the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and its association with maternal employment in Ethiopia were considered. The search was conducted from 6 November 2020 to 31 December 2020 and all papers published in the English language from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2020 were included in this review.ResultsForty-five studies were included in the final analysis after reviewing 751 studies in this meta-analysis yielding the pooled prevalence of EBF 60.42% (95% CI 55.81, 65.02) at 6 months in Ethiopia. Those full-time employed mothers in the first 6 months were 57% less likely to practice exclusive breastfeeding in comparison to mothers not in paid employment in Ethiopia (OR 0.43; 95% CI 0.31, 0.61).ConclusionsFull-time maternal employment was negatively associated with the practice of exclusive breastfeeding in comparison to unemployed mothers. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Ethiopia is low in comparison to the global recommendation. The Ethiopian government should implement policies that empower women. The governmental and non-governmental organizations should create a conducive environment for mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding in the workplace.
Highlights
Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as the practice of providing only breast milk for an infant for the first 6 months of life without the addition of any other food or water, except for vitamins, mineral supplements, and medicines
Association between maternal employment and exclusive breastfeeding in Ethiopia We examined the association between maternal employment and Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) practice using 19 studies [32–50] in this meta-analysis and the findings showed that the practice of EBF was negatively associated with maternal employment
Full-time maternal employment was negatively associated with the practice of EBF among mothers who returned to work before 6 months in this systematic review and meta-analysis research
Summary
Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as the practice of providing only breast milk for an infant for the first 6 months of life without the addition of any other food or water, except for vitamins, mineral supplements, and medicines. Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is defined as the practice of providing only breast milk for an infant for the first 6 months of life without the addition of any other food or water, except for vitamins, mineral supplements, and medicines [2]. In 2012, the World Health Assembly endorsed a comprehensive implementation plan on maternal, infant, and young child nutrition with six specified global nutrition targets for 2025.The fifth target aims to increase the rate of EBF in the first 6 months up to 50% and only 31 of 194 countries were practicing according to this endorsement in 2018 [5, 6]. Cambodia and Malawi showed an increment of EBF from 11 to 74% and 3 to 71% respectively between 1992 and 2010 [10]
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