Socio-demographic Features of Mothers in Relation to Duration of Breastfeeding in Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal

Abstract

Background: It was noticed by the authors that the patients attending the Pediatrics Department were being breastfed for a longer duration than the recommended two years by the World Health Organization (WHO). This study was undertaken to see the exact duration of breastfeeding of the children who were being treated at the hospital. Method: This was a prospective study carried out from April 2010 to March 2011 in 500 children who were treated at Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal. Other demographic features such as the mother’s age, occupation, education, ethnicity and child’s sex were also some of the factors which were studied to see if these factors influenced the duration of breastfeeding. Results: Our study revealed that the median age of breastfeeding among the children studied was 43 months. Out of the 500 mothers who were interviewed 159 of them breastfed their child beyond the age of 60 months (5 years). In addition, we did not find any statistically significant gender discrimination with regards to the breastfeeding duration. Conclusion: This study shows that the studied population has been breastfed for longer duration than the recommended guideline stipulated by the WHO. The duration of breastfeeding seen in this study is higher than shown in previous studies. Keywords: Breastfeeding; extended breastfeeding; socio-demographic DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njms.v1i1.5793   Nepal Journal of Medical Sciences. 2012; 1(1): 27-30