Exclusive breastfeeding prevalence, determinants and perception among mothers attending a family health center in Giza Governorate, Egypt / Yomna Mohamed Ali Bayoumi ; Supervised Nafousa Aly Afify , Marwa Rashad Salem , Eman Hany Elsebaie

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Community Medicine

Background: Breastfeeding (BF) is a critical first step on a child{u2019}s path to a healthy future. In Egypt there is abrupt decrease of the practice of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). EBF for 6 months to at least 50% of the neonates is a global target of the WHO by 2025. Methods: An analytic cross-sectional study in Talbia Family Health Center, all mothers attended to the 6 months vaccination clinic were screened to estimate the prevalence of EBF. And a sample of 339 mothers were interviewed via a structured validated questionnaire that collected the socio-demographic and economic status, biomedical factors, breastfeeding practices and perception about EBF. Results: The prevalence of EBF at the age of 6 months was 18.16%.EBF practice was more significantly reduced with mothers aged from 30-34 years. (P value=0.03). The EBF duration was 4.35±1.6 months. 34% started BF within the first hour, 59.6% gave babies prelacteal feeds. 80.2% of mothers feed their babies on demand, 92.6% breastfeed their babies at night (p value <0.01), 55.2% didn{u2019}t give their babies bottles and teets. (p value <0.01). Regarding maternal perception, 66.7% of mothers know what is meant by EBF. Mothers{u2019} opinion towards EBF,75.5% said that it{u2019}s good and safe for the baby only. Regarding recommendations 36.8% said that community awareness about BF to supporting the lactating mothers and 92.8% intended to breastfeed their babies exclusively next time.(P-value 0.05)

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