title: Breast-feeding patterns in Saudi Arabia.
abstract: A survey was conducted on 1019 mothers in 79 primary health care centers in Saudi Arabia to determine the patterns of breast feeding.  A large percentage of mothers (98%) had breastfed their infants at birth.   This rate dropped to 96.5% during the first week of life.  There were 635 (64.1%) mothers who started to breastfeed their babies within 6 hours of delivery.  Over two-thirds (68.9%) of mothers gave supplemental liquids to infants during the first 3 days of their life.  More than half fed their infants on demand rather than on schedule.  A high proportion (94.4%) breastfed at night, with 88.1% feeding their infants more than once.  There was no significant relationship between the duration of suckling and the mother's age or work status (p  0.05).  However, a significant relationship (p  0.001) was found between the duration of suckling and the mother's literacy.  More than three-quarters of mothers slept in the same bed with their infants or in the same room.  A large percentage of women initiated breast feeding; however, many introduced a supplement too early, a practice that should be discouraged.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Madani
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Al-nowaisser
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Khashoggi
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia; D001211:Asia, Western; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003906:Developing Countries; D004467:Economics; D006262:Health; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D008877:Middle East; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Arab Countries; Asia; Breast Feeding; Developing Countries; Economic Factors; Health; Infant Nutrition; Nutrition; Saudi Arabia; Socioeconomic Factors; Supplementary Feeding; Technical Report; Western Asia