Breastfeeding Practices and Factors Associated With It: A Cross Sectional Study Among Tribal Women in Khardi Primary Health Centre, Thane, India
Keywords:
Breastfeeding - exclusive breastfeeding – tribal – Initiation – Colostrum - Pre-lacteal feeds.Abstract
Introduction
India is home to large number of under-five deaths and underweight children in the world which is mainly because of improper breastfeeding practices. Hence the study was conducted to assess the breastfeeding practices in tribal settings so that proper interventions can be planned by the health system staff to reduce infant morbidity and mortality.
Methods
Cross-sectional study of three months duration from June 2011 to August 2011was conducted in tribal area of Khardi in Thane district amongst women who had delivered within one year of the study. This study was conducted in Khardi Primary Health Centre (PHC) which comprises of eight sub-centres. Five sub-centres among these eight sub-centres were selected randomly using lottery method. All tribal women, with infants between six months to twelve months of age, registered with these five sub-centres during their antenatal period were included as subjects. 153 such women were identified using universal sampling with the help of Auxillary Nurse Midwives (ANM) and Anganwadi Workers (AWW). 21 women were excluded due to non availability. House to house visits were paid to these subjects & they were then interviewed face to face using a questionnaire after taking their informed consent. Dependent variable was breastfeeding practices including exclusive breastfeeding and independent variables were all the socio-demographic factors influencing breastfeeding. Analysis was done with SPSS version 16.
Results
More than half (67.4%) infants were exclusively breast fed (EBF) up to six months of age. Pre-lacteal feeds were given to 23.5% infants while colostrum was not given to 15.2% infants. Practice of EBF was found to be significantly associated with advice regarding EBF during antenatal period, education status, parity of mother and sex of child.
Conclusions
67.4% of the infants were exclusively breastfed till six months of age. Religion, education of the mother, number of children of study subjects, sex of the baby and knowledge about EBF was found to be significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding.
References
10 facts on breastfeeding [homepage on the Internet]: World Health Organization; July 2011. Available from: http://www.who.int/features/factfiles/breastfeeding/en/
World Breastfeeding Week [homepage on the Internet]: World Health Organization; 1–7 August 2012. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/annual/world_breastfeeding_week/en/
Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women, Committee on Obstetric Practice: Breastfeeding: maternal and infant aspects. ACOG Clinical Review 2007;12:1S-16S.
American Academy of Pediatrics; American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians. Washington DC; 2006.
Cattaneo A, Yngve A, Koletzko B, Guzman LR. Protection, promotion and support of breast-feeding in Europe: current situation. Public Health Nutr. 2005; 8(1):39-46.
Breastfeeding key to saving children’s lives, World Health Organization. July 2010. Available from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2010/breastfeeding_20100730/en/
Cattaneo A, Burmaz T, Arendt M, Nilsson I, Mikiel-Kostyra K, Kondrate I, et al. Protection, promotion and support of breast-feeding in Europe: progress from 2002 to 2007. Public Health Nutr. 2010; 13(6):751-759.
Nkala TE and Msuya SE. Prevalence and predictors of exclusive breastfeeding among women in Kigoma region. Western Tanzania: a community based cross-sectional Study. International Breastfeeding Journal. 2011; 6:17.
Ong G, Yap M, Foo LL, Tai B. Impact of working status on breastfeeding in Singapore: Evidence from the National Breastfeeding Survey 2001. Eur J Public Health 2005; 15(4):424-430.
Dearden K, Altaye M, de Maza I, de Oliva M, Stone-Jimenez M, Morrow AL, Burkhalter BR. Determinants of optimal breastfeeding in peri-urban Guatemala City, Guatemala. Pan Am J Public Health. 2002; 12(3):185-192.
Lisa H Amir. Social theory and infant feeding. International Breastfeeding Journal. 2011; 6:7.
Newton ER: The epidemiology of breastfeeding. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2004; 47:613-623.
Lu M, Lange L, Slusser W, Hamilton J, Halfon N. Provider encouragement of breastfeeding: evidence from a national survey. Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2001; 97:290-294.
Naylor AJ. Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative: Protecting, promoting, and supporting breastfeeding in the twenty-first century. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2001;48(2):475-483.
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Available from: http://www.unicef.org/programme/breastfeeding/baby.htm
Kramer MS and Kakuma R. The optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding [Elektronisk resurs] a systematic review. Geneva: Dept. of Nutrition for Health and Development, Dept. of Child and Adolescent Health and Development, World Health Organization; 2002.
Park JE and Park K. Text Book of Preventive and Social Medicine. 21st ed M/s. Banarsidas Bhanot Publishers: Jabalpur; 2011: 638 – 40.
Nelson WE, Behrman RE, Kliegman RM, Jenson HB. Nelson textbook of pediatrics. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2004.
Khadivzadeh T and Parsai S. Effect of exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding on infant growth and morbidity. East Mediterr Health J. 2004; 10(3):289-294.
Ben Slama F, Ayari I, Ouzini F, Belhadj O, Achour N. Exclusive breastfeeding and mixed feeding: knowledge, attitudes and practices of primiparous mothers. East Mediterr Health J. 2010 Jun; 16(6):630-5.
Memon S, Shaikh S, Kousar T, Memon Y, Rubina. Assessment of infant feeding practices at a tertiary care hospital. J Pak Med Assoc. 2010 Dec; 60(12):1010-5.
Olang B, Farivar K, Heidarzadeh A, Strandvik B, Yngve A. Breastfeeding in Iran: prevalence, duration and current recommendations. International Breastfeeding Journal. 2009;4:8.
Vafaee A, Khabazkhoob M, Moradi A, Najafpoor AA. Prevalence of Exclusive Breastfeeding During the First Six Months of Life and its Determinant Factors on the Referring Children to the Health Centers in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran-2007. Journal of Applied Science. 2010; 10: 343-348.
Garg R, Deepti S, Padda A, Singh T. Breastfeeding knowledge and practices among rural women of Punjab. India: a community-based study. Breastfeed Med. 2010 Dec; 5(6):303-7.
Pandey S, Tiwari K, Senarath U, Agho KE, Dibley MJ; South Asia Infant Feeding Research Network. Determinants of infant and young child feeding practices in Nepal: secondary data analysis of Demographic and Health Survey 2006. Food Nutr Bull. 2010 Jun;31(2):334-51.
Shahjahan M, Ahmed MR, Rahman MM, Afroz A. Factors affecting newborn care practices in Bangladesh. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2012 Jan; 26(1):13-8.
Boccolini CS, Carvalho ML, Oliveira MI, Vasconcellos AG. Factors associated with breastfeeding in the first hour of life. Rev Saude Publica. 2011 Feb; 45(1):69-78.
Dibley MJ, Senarath U, Agho KE. Infant and young child feeding indicators across nine East and Southeast Asian countries: an analysis of National Survey Data 2000-2005. Public Health Nutr. 2010 Sep; 13(9):1296-303.
Mridula Bandyopadhyay Impact of ritual pollution on lactation and breastfeeding practices in rural West Bengal, India. International Breastfeeding Journal. 2009; 4:2.
Dashti M, Scott JA, Edwards CA, Mona Al-Sughayer. Determinants of breastfeeding initiation among mothers in Kuwait. International Breastfeeding Journal 2010, 5:7.
Kimani-Murage EW, Madise NJ, Fotso JC, Kyobutungi C, Mutua MK, Gitau TM et al. Patterns and determinants of breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices in urban informal settlements, Nairobi Kenya. BMC Public Health. 2011 May 26; 11:396.
Madhu K, Chowdary S, Masthi R. Breastfeeding practices and newborn care in rural areas: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Indian J Community Med. 2009; 34: 243-6.
Amin T, Hablas H, Al Qader AA. Determinants of initiation and exclusivity of breastfeeding in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia. Breastfeed Med. 2011 Apr; 6(2):59-68.
Raval D, DV Jankar, Singh MP. A study of breastfeeding practices among infants living in slums of Bhavnagar city, Gujarat, India. Healthline. 2011 Jul-Dec; 2(2).
