Timely initiation of breastfeeding in Zimbabwe: evidence from the demographic and health surveys 1994–2015

Abstract

Background: Timely initiation of breastfeeding or breastfeeding within 60 min of birth has been shown to be associated with significantly lower risk of infant mortality. The World Health Organization recommends starting breastfeeding within the first hour of birth, yet many women in sub-Saharan Africa do not observe this recommendation. To date, there is limited evidence of timely initiation of breastfeeding for Zimbabwe. Therefore, we undertook this study with the aim of calculating the trend in timely initiation of breastfeeding and to explore the correlates. Methods: We used five rounds of Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey data conducted between 1999 and 2015. Participants were 15,923 mothers currently breastfeeding or who had a childbirth within five years preceding the surveys. Outcome variable was self-reported timing of timely breastfeeding for singleton births which was categorized as early (< 60 min), late (≥ 60 min to < 2 4 h) and very late (≥ 24 h). Results: Prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding was 60.3% (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 57.44, 63.02) in 1999, 66.9% (95% CI 64.32, 69.4) in 2006, 65.8% (95% CI 63.7, 67.8) in 2011 and 58.3% (95% CI 56.3, 60.4) in 2015. It increased by 27 and 22% in 2006 and 2011 compared with that of the 1999 level respectively. We found no socioeconomic and gender-based differentials in the prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding. Compared with women aged 15-19 years old, women 25-29 and 30-34 years old had higher odds of practicing timely initiation of breastfeeding. The odds of practicing timely initiation of breastfeeding among Muslim women (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.2, 95% CI 1.07, 1.36) was 20% higher when compared with Christian mothers. Women who wanted to have their last child later (aOR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81, 0.97) had 11% lower odd of practicing timely initiation of breastfeeding when compared with women who wanted children then. Conclusions: The prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding in Zimbabwe was 58.3% in 2015, well over the 50% target recommended by WHO for all countries to attain by 2025.

Early initiation of breastfeeding practice and associated factors among mothers of children aged less than six months of old in Mizan-Aman town, southwest Ethiopia, 2018

“…The prevalence of timely initiation breast feeding in Mizan-Aman town is found to be 64.5%. This gure is consistent with study ndings which were conducted in Debre Berhan town, Kenya, Lesotho and Jamaica (62.6%, 62.2%, 65.3% and 64.7% respectively) [16,11,17,21].…”

“…The practice of early initiation of breast feeding in our study area was higher than study from in Zimbabwe (58.3%) ,south Gondar (54.7%),Axum Town (41.6%) and Goba district (52.4%) respectively [17,18,19,20].this difference could be due to study setting, some of them were from rural side, population character, when the study subjects are those mother of children more than 6 months of age they might not recall well when to start to initiate breast feeding, information and health service utilization and socio economic difference between the referenced subject and the study place.…”

Determinants of early initiation of breastfeeding in Papua New Guinea: a population-based study using the 2016-2018 demographic and health survey data

“…Studies abound on child breastfeeding practices, with focus on Bangladesh [ 15 , 16 ], Ethiopia [ 17 – 20 ], Nepal [ 21 ], Niger [ 22 ], Nigeria [ 23 ], Saudi Arabia [ 24 , 25 ], Tanzania [ 26 ], Uganda [ 27 ], and Zimbabwe [ 28 , 29 ]. Such research have principally focused on trends of timely initiation of breastfeeding [ 30 ], predictors of delayed initiation of breastfeeding [ 25 , 27 ] and determinants of EIB [ 17 – 22 , 26 ]. Age, religion [ 30 ], parity [ 28 ], mother’s educational status [ 21 ], and geographical region of residence [ 16 , 19 ] have been reported to be associated with EIB.…”

“…Such research have principally focused on trends of timely initiation of breastfeeding [ 30 ], predictors of delayed initiation of breastfeeding [ 25 , 27 ] and determinants of EIB [ 17 – 22 , 26 ]. Age, religion [ 30 ], parity [ 28 ], mother’s educational status [ 21 ], and geographical region of residence [ 16 , 19 ] have been reported to be associated with EIB. In Papua New Guinea, generally, while there are few studies on infant feeding practices [ 8 ], such studies did not consider its associated factors.…”

Impact of maternal factors and socio-demographic determinants on early initiation of breastfeeding practices in Alwar district, Rajasthan, India

“…11 The studies reveal that determinants such as multi-parity, caesarean section, low birthweight, mother's low level of education, mother's occupation, and place of delivery and size of baby at birth associated with delay in early initiation of breastfeeding. 12 Breastfeeding practices vary considerably across different states and districts. India has developed a comprehensive infant and young child feeding policies and operational guidelines that are well aligned with global policies.…”