Prevalence and factors associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding in Kilimanjaro region, northern Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends early initiation of breastfeeding within 1 h as it confers many benefits to the child and prevents neonatal mortality. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding in the Kilimanjaro region, northern Tanzania. Methods: We analyzed secondary data for 866 participants from a population-based cross-sectional study conducted in April 2016 among mothers with children aged less than 5 years in three districts; Rombo, Same, and Moshi Municipal council in Kilimanjaro region, northern Tanzania. A multistage sampling selected study participants and interviewed using a questionnaire. The generalized linear model, with Poisson family and log-link function was used to estimate the prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for factors associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding. Results: The prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding was 71.1%. The vast majority of mothers (90.7%) gave colostrum, and less than a tenth (6.4%) gave pre-lacteal feed to their children. Adjusted for other factors, not giving children prelacteal feeds remained was significantly associated with a higher prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding (PR: 2.22, 95%CI 1.38, 3.56, p = 0.001). There was no significant association between other characteristics and the likelihood of timely initiation of breastfeeding in this study. Conclusion: The prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding in the Kilimanjaro region was higher than the national estimate. The practice of not giving infants prelacteal feeds increased the likelihood of timely initiation of breastfeeding. There is a need to encourage mothers on the significance of recommended ANC visits and early initiation of breastfeeding to their infants to improve the practice.

Magnitude and determinants of breastfeeding initiation within one hour among reproductive women in Sub-Saharan Africa; evidence from demographic and health survey data: a multilevel study

“…In this study we found that maternal education significantly correlated with early initiation of breastfeeding in line with other studies [ 10 , 36 , 41 – 43 ]. Hence educated women have the ability to understand the benefits of early initiation of breastfeeding and provision of colostrum to their newborns provided by health care workers as well as have better accessibility to attend ANC and have better media exposure.…”

Factors associated with early initiation of breastfeeding among children less than 24 months old: the 2019 Ethiopian mini demographic and health survey

“…It is still lower when compared to the previous studies of EIBF prevalence in other countries, such as Angola (98.4%), Cuba (89.2%) and Sri Lanka (85.5%) [ 21 ], and also lower than the national 92% EIBF targeted by the health sector development program of Ethiopia [ 13 ]. However, the overall prevalence of EIBF in Ethiopia is much higher compared to the economic community of West Africa state (ECOWAS) (43%) [ 22 ], Ghana (55.7%) [ 17 ], Tanzania (71.4%) [ 23 ], the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (43.6%) [ 24 ], India (41.5%) [ 25 ], Indonesia (57%) [ 26 ] and the Middle East (34.3%) [ 27 ]. The reason for the higher prevalence of EIBF in the current study compared to the previous study might be due to the successful health extension program implementation in the Ethiopian primary health care system.…”

Trends and determinants of breastfeeding within one hour in Ethiopia, further analysis of Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey: multivariate decomposition analysis

“…Early initiation of breastfeeding stimulates the production of breast milk and ensures greater consumption of highly nutritious colostrum breast milk produced during the first few days after birth [ 1 , 8 , 9 ]. Early initiation of breastfeeding also an important bridge for the mother-to-child relationship and to increase the length of breastfeeding [ 10 – 12 ]. In addition to these advantages, early initiation of breastfeeding induces uterine contraction after pregnancy, decreasing the risk of postpartum haemorrhage and extending the duration of postpartum infertility, allowing women to return to their presentational weight, as well as reducing the risk of breast and ovarian cancer [ 9 , 11 , 13 ].…”