Why Won't Mothers Exclusively Breastfeed their Child - Evidence from a Prospective Study in Lucknow District, Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

Breast milk is indispensable and the only recommended food for newborn. Breast milk provides valuable nutrition for baby and it is also good for the health of mother. There should be Exclusive Breast Feeding (EBF) till six months of age and then continued till 2 years of age along with complementary foods (WHO). This is a prospective study conducted during a period of 12 months. Women delivering at tertiary care hospital were enrolled in the study and were followed for six months. Data related to the study was collected on five occasions - at delivery, after 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 6 months birth of child from 185 women enrolled in study and final analysis was done on 175 women. At the end of six months the prevalence of exclusive breast feeding was only 41.7 %. The prevalence of EBF in rural and urban areas was 41.6 and 41.8 % respectively. Majority of women introduced some or other kind of external food after five months of age (between 4^th and 5^th visit). Percentage of children receiving pre-lacteal feeding was 21.7 % even though all were delivered in a tertiary care institute. All malnourished children were not breastfed exclusively.