Factors influencing exclusive breastfeeding practice among under-six months infants in Ethiopia

Abstract

Background World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months of life. EBF has sustainable long-term health benefits for both infants and mothers. Despite its benefits, the practice of EBF in Ethiopia is lower than the internationally recommended one. This study aimed at identifying factors influencing EBF practice among under-6 month infants in Ethiopia. Methods This study used data drawn from the 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey (2019 EMDHS) data. A multivariable logistic regression model was employed to investigate factors significantly associated with EBF practice among under-6 month infants in Ethiopia. An adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to measure the association of factors with EBF practice. Results A total of 566 infants under the age of 6 months were included in the study. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding practice was 83% (95% CI: 79.70–86%). Urban residences (AOR: 0.40, 95% CI: 0.22–0.73), mothers having secondary education (AOR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.29–1.84) and higher education (AOR: 3.18, 95% CI: 0.68–15.02), mothers having ANC visits of 1 to 3 times (AOR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.24–1.88) and ANC visits of 4 and more times (AOR: 4.27, 95% CI: 1.06–17.25), family size of more than 5 (AOR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.26–0.88), caesarean births (AOR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.42–0.95), and deliveries at health facilities (AOR: 2.51, 95% CI: 1.12–5.63) were factors significantly associated with EBF practice among under-6 month infants. Conclusion In this study, EBF practice among under-6 month infants was significantly associated with place of residence, maternal educational level, ANC visits, family size, mode of delivery, and place of delivery. Therefore, encouraging ANC visit and promotion of institutional (health facility) delivery are recommended. Furthermore, special attention has to be given to mothers with no or less education to make them better aware of the EBF and its benefits to enhance exclusive breastfeeding practice.

Risk factors of under-five mortality in Ethiopia using count data regression models, 2021

“…However, this study had limitations in that the EMDHS is mostly based on respondents' self-report and might have the possibility of recall bias. In addition, some variables like weight of child at birth [ 47 , 53 , 54 ], maternal anemia [ [54] , [55] , [56] ], child's breastfeeding status [ 7 , 47 , 57 ], diarrhea [ 48 , 58 , 59 ], pregnancy desire [ 60 , 61 ], mother's employment status [ 48 , 62 , 63 ] and fathers' educational status [ 64 , 65 ] were not included in the study because of large number of missing values/unavailability in the dataset.…”

Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Practices in Rural and Urban Regions of Indonesia

“…Exclusive breastfeeding practice among under-6-month infants was significantly associated with place of residence, maternal educational level, ANC visits, family size, mode of delivery, and place of delivery [19]. The findings of this study, the age of the mother at the time of having an infant is related to the practice of IYCF.…”

Determinants of exclusive breastfeeding practice among mothers with infants under-six months in Ethiopia: A Multilevel Analysis of the 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey

“…There hasn't been much progress, despite Ethiopia's government's best efforts to encourage and enforce exclusive breastfeeding for babies under six months of age the Ethiopian national gure shows that it has only 1% increase from 2016 (58%) to 2019 (59%) (12). This could be due to various contributing characteristics which may be related with infant, mother's socio-economic, demographic, obstetric and health care factors related to infant and mother such as: age of infant, sex of child, birth order, time of initiation, birth interval, age of mother, sex of head of the household, marital status, maternal educational level religion, household wealth index, family size, counseling service, type of birth, antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), place of delivery, mode of delivery, and place of residence (3,4,11,(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24).…”

“…Different studies indicated various factors that could signi cantly in uence EBF practices. A study conducted in Ethiopia showed that the female infants (22), infant aged 0-1month and 2-3 months (16, 25), being a single birth (16), breastfeeding initiation within one hour of birth (16, 17), mothers having secondary and higher education (19,20,23), women age 25-34 years (20), married mothers (18, 20), richer household wealth index (21,22,25), mothers having ANC visits (16,18,19,21,22,26,27), postnatal care checkup (13,16,18,21,23,26), deliveries at health facilities (13,19,20,23,26,28) receive breastfeeding counseling (17,18,25,27,28), urban residence (20) were positively associated with EBF practice among under-6 month infants. In contrary studies conducted in Ethiopia showed that the children aged 4-5 months (15), urban residences (19,26), women age 35-49 years (24), family size of more than 5 (19,20), caesarean births (15,19,21), richer household wealth status (14,20), residing in Afar region (15), and residing in Somali regi...…”