Influencing factors on time of breastfeeding initiation among a national representative sample of women in India

Abstract

Breastfeeding is seen as vital for mother and child and therefore is of great public health concern. Early initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of delivery is important as it reduces neonatal mortality. Increasing our understanding of barriers and reasons for not commencing early breastfeeding is important to improve strategies and conditions to overcome such barriers. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate factors influencing time of breastfeeding among women in India, focusing on health care utilisation related issues and partner behaviour. Data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India's National Family Health Survey (NFHS) from 2005-2006 (NFHS-3) have been used in this study. Breastfeeding for the latest child was considered in the study. A total of 35,795 female respondents are included in this study. Chi square test and adjusted logistic regression analysis were used. Among all 35,795 women in the study, a total of 31.1% initiated breastfeeding within one hour and 68.6% initiated breastfeeding within the first week. Educational level, economic status and women's caste or tribe, place of delivery, prenatal visits to health care facilities and assistance during delivery as well as partner's controlling and violent behavior are important factors influencing time of initiation of breastfeeding. It is evident that policy makers need to ensure that all health professionals support and promote early breastfeeding initiation. It is also important to promote deliveries in hospitals and other healthcare facilities as they may increase early initiation. Furthermore, it is fundamental that efforts are intensified for girls and women to obtain education to increase women's empowerment and improved gender equality.

Community based study on initiation of breast feeding and determining factors in rural area of Pondicherry

“…The similar trends were seen in other studies. [10][11][12]14 The overall rate of initiation of breast feeding within one hour of birth is 15.8% in India and it has set a National goal to increase the rate by 50% and the practice of initiation of breast feeding colostrum was 75% within one hour of birth and similar higher rate of observation were noted in other parts in India since last 3 years. 1,3,14,15 There are beneficial and additional advantages of breast feeding other than nutritional requirement like affection, mental development of the baby, jaw development, emotional bonding between mother and baby, identification of early signs of illness, delay in growth and development, severity of illness of the baby noticed by lactating mother irrespective of her experience in breast feeding as observed by many studies.…”

“…1,3,14,15 There are beneficial and additional advantages of breast feeding other than nutritional requirement like affection, mental development of the baby, jaw development, emotional bonding between mother and baby, identification of early signs of illness, delay in growth and development, severity of illness of the baby noticed by lactating mother irrespective of her experience in breast feeding as observed by many studies. 1,3,4,12,16 Occupation and education level of the mother plays an important role in initiation of breast feeding. In this study it was observed that as education level is higher and working outside the house showed delay in initiation of breast feeding.…”

“…3,[10][11][12] This study analysed 350 babies with cumulative age of 7378 months during the period of 2 months in the field practice area of department of community medicine. The age of the subject was 6 to 24 months.…”

Factors associated with early initiation of breastfeeding among mothers of tribal area of Madhya Pradesh, India: a community based cross sectional study

“…25 Sandor M and Dalal K demonstrated that women with no education are almost 50% less likely to start breastfeeding compared to women with higher education. 26 Patel A et al revealed that higher maternal education (adjusted OR 2.00, 95% CI: 1.10-3.60) were associated with timely initiation of breast feeding. 22 The present study it was found that mother who were counselled during antenatal visits about need of breast feeding were more likely to associated with breast feeding within one hour.…”

Early initiation of breast feeding in tribal children

“…Similar finding were noted by others authors in different parts of the country and world. 29,30 The strength of the study is that it provides useful baseline data for health care providers, public health specialists and policy makers. One potential limitation of this study could be the small localized population.…”