University of Dar es Salaam School of Health Sciences

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Browsing University of Dar es Salaam School of Health Sciences by Author "Balati, Josephine"

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    Infant feeding practices and associated factors among mothers of infants less than six months old in Kinondoni Municipality – Dar es Salaam
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2003) Balati, Josephine
    A community based cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in Kinondoni municipality in Dar es Salaam city in June 2003. The aim of the study was to determine factors associated with current infant feeding practices in urban setting like Dar es Salaam. The respondents were selected using a multistage cluster sampling technique involving divisions, wards and streets. The participants were visited in their respective households. Information on socio-demographic characteristics, breastfeeding were collected using a structured questionnaire, with both closed and open ended questions. A total of 320 mother with singeleton infants less than six months old were interviewed. The main findings of this survey showed that 97.2% of all the infants were ever breastfed at some point and most of the women initiated breastfeeding within the first hour after delivery. Furthermore, among the infants who were ever breastfed, 98.7% were fed colostrum. The rate of exclusive breastfeeding at the time of the study was found to be 31.3%. Early supplementation was found to be common and widely practiced, and the main reasons mentioned were excessive crying of the babies and perceived insufficient breast milk. Breastfeeding respectively. Mothers' level of knowledge on breastfeeding issues was significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Health workers were the main source of information on infant feeding. In conclusion, breastfeeding was found to be almost universal among the mothers in Kinondoni municipality. However, exclusive breastfeeding remains a challenge despite the good level of knowledge on breastfeeding issues among the mothers. This therefore calls for concerted efforts in promoting optimal infant feeding practices although the existing systems supporting breastfeeding .