Factors That Influence the Practice of Exclusive Breast Feeding Among Mothers in Bubaare, Mbarara District

Abstract

This study assessed the factors that influence practice of exclusive breastfeeding practice among mothers in Bubaare Sub-County in Mbarara District. The study set some objectives so as to achieve the purpose of research. The objectives set included: to establish the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding practices among breastfeeding mothers; to identify the factors that affect the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers; and lastly, to assess the knowledge of mothers about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding practices. Different literature was reviewed about practices and knowledge of mothers about exclusive breastfeeding, and lastly, factors hindering the practice of breastfeeding among women in accordance to scholars and authors were done in literature review. Descriptive cross-sectional design was used and only breastfeeding mothers in Bubaare Sub-County were considered as target population. A sample size of 377 was determined using Kish & Leslie formula and systematic random sampling was used to sample respondents. Closed-ended questionnaires were used to collect data from the field and different data management techniques were used. Data was summarized in data master sheets, Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) software was used to analyze the data. The frequency distribution like mean was used to describe the background characteristics of respondents and Bivariate analysis for analytical statistics was used to assess the relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables. Ethical considerations were also seriously observed in this research. The research found out that the prevalence of the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers is generally high (at 55.2 %); different social and economic factors are also found to be responsible for hindering the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers (at the level of 59 %); and lastly, 69.3 percent of the breastfeeding mothers did not have sufficient knowledge about the importance of exclusive breastfeeding practices. The study concluded that the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding is generally high among mothers in Bubaare; social and economic factors are hinder exclusive breastfeeding among mothers in Bubaare Sub-county; and that majority of the mothers in Bubaare do not have sufficient information about the importance of exclusive breast feeding. The study recommended that more health workers should be recruited; mothers should be given information about exclusive breastfeeding and its benefits; Bubare health center should organize regular out reaches to the communities to teach mothers and care givers the benefits of exclusive breast feeding.