Breastfeeding practices of urban and rural mothers.
This longitudinal study was conducted to describe the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and factors influencing it in urban (tertiary care hospital of Delhi) and rural (First Referral Unit in Haryana) settings. The exclusive breastfeeding rates were 38%, 30%, 24%, 20%, 16% and 1% at discharge, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 6 months, respectively in the urban and; 57%, 16%, 9%, 6%, 5% and 0% at discharge, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 6 months, respectively in rural setting. Use of formula feeding was very high (55%) among the urban mothers during hospital stay. The factors associated with continuation of exclusive breastfeeding were mothers knowledge regarding breastfeeding and reinforcement by health professionals, whereas the factors associated with cessation were perceived insufficiency of milk, and cultural practices.
College of Nursing and Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
A
A
Oommen
M
M
Vatsa
V K
VK
Paul
R
R
Aggarwal
D001294:Attitude to Health; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D041943:Infant Formula / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*