factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding among mothers with children aged 6-9 months attending sos hospital, mogadishu-somalia

Description

Introduction Breast milk increases resilience against infections, boosts infants’ neurodevelopment, and reduces the likelihood of non-communicable diseases. All mothers must breastfeed their babies exclusively for the first six months of their infant’s life. In low-income countries, only 39% of children are exclusively breastfed. In Somalia, only 33% of babies are exclusively breastfed. Therefore, we determine the community and maternal factors associated with the low level of exclusively breastfeeding in Mogadishu, Somalia. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among mothers of babies aged between 6-9 months attending postnatal care at SOS Hospital, Mogadishu. Mothers were recruited usinga consecutive sampling method. Data were collected using questionnaires, and the analysis was done using SPSS version 23. Logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding, and statistical significance was determined at a 5% level of significance. Results A total of 280 mothers with a child aged between 6-9 months participated in the study. The mothers' average age was 27.8 (±4.12) years, while the babies were on average aged 7.6(±1.2) months. About 63% of the mothers were married, and 67% had between 2 to 5 children. The level of exclusively breastfeeding was at 30% (95%CI: 25.2-36.03). Being married/cohabiting (OR=2.877, 95%CI:1.21- 6.90), acquiring up to secondary/tertiary education level (OR=4.282, 95%CI: 1.78-10.30), knowledge about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding (OR=5.869, 95%CI: 2.59-13.29), attending four antenatal care visits or more (OR= 4.202, 95%CI:1.47-11.99) and delivering from the health facility (OR= 6.49, 95%CI:2.47-13.20) were associated with exclusively breastfeeding. Conclusion Exclusive breastfeeding in Mogadishu, Somalia falls way below the World Health OrganizationGlobal NoncommunicableDiseases (NCD) fifth target (at least 50%) of 2025. Intervention to improve the utilization of antenatal services, facility delivery, and knowledge about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding, especially among single mothers, is needed to increase exclusive breastfeeding.