Predictors of exclusive breastfeeding practice among nursing mothers attending a health care facility in a peri-urban setting in Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The Nigerian government initiated various national infant and young child feeding programmes (1992-2005) to improve juveniles well-being. Despite these efforts, under-five children feeding related diseases and mortality still escalate. Investigating the drivers of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is exigent in tackling this menace. Objective: To investigate maternal socio-demographic and index child variables that serve as predictors of EBF practice among nursing mother attending a healthcare facility in Lagos, western Nigeria. Methods: One hundred and twenty (N=120) consenting nursing mothers (15-49 years) with infants between 0-24 months completed a structured, self-administered questionnaire. Scores of current practice level for EBF was computed and adjusted odd ratios (aORs) generated from a logistic regression model. Results: Respondents mean age was 28.7 ± 2.3 years. Of 120 respondents, 82(68.3%) and 38(31.7%) had good and poor EBF practice respectively. Having an index child <6months age (aOR=5.02, 95% confidence intervalCI=1.28–15.43), being in monogamy (aOR=3.0, 95% CI=1.80–6.73), having tertiary education (aOR=3.12, 95% CI=1.39–8.96), being married (aOR=2.0, 95% CI=0.1–0.8) and vaginal delivery (aOR=2.96, 95% CI=1.75–7.48) increased the odds of EBF practice. Conclusion: Age of index child, marriage type, maternal education, marital status and nature of delivery independently predicted EBF practice. Keywords: Exclusive breastfeeding practice; Nursing mothers; Predictors; Infant feeding; Child index.