PREDICTORS OF EARLY-BREASTFEEDING INITIATIONAMONGMOTHERS WHO DELIVERED AT KAWEMPE AD NAGURUREFERRALHOIPTALS, KAMPALA UNGANDA.

Abstract

Background: Maternal and child health is an important aspect health indices of any communitycurrently requiring attention. Antenatal care preparing pregnant mothers regarding infant nutritionconstitute an important contribution in achieving proper sustainability of appropriate maternal andchild health. Early Initiation to breastfeeding has been well established as a pathway to achievingexclusive breastfeeding for the infant. However, it has been observed that this not generallypracticed by most mothers as ought to be. Therefore, this study sought to identify predictors of Early-Breastfeeding Initiation amongmotherswho delivered at Kawempe and Naguru referral Hospitals, Kampala Uganda assessing prevalenceofEarly-Breastfeeding initiation among mothers, guided by a behavior model evaluating predisposingfactors, reinforcing factors and enabling factors associated with Early-Breastfeeding Initiation. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional survey design that enrolled 401 consentingpost-partum mothers by simple random sampling technique and data was collected using a validatedquestionnaire. Data analysis was conducted with the IBM SPSS version 21 and transformedtheresponse items into weighted-aggregate scores to develop the variables in the study. All thehypotheses were subjected to a 5% level of significance. Results: Findings from the study showed that the most significant predictors of early breastfeedinginitiation were predisposing factors such as health care support and infant response to breastfeedingengagement (p<0.000) contributing 40% of the factors that predicted early initiationtobreastfeeding. These were followed by reinforcing factors (Health education and mother’s attitudes)which were also significant predictors (p<0.005) also contributing 40%and the least weretheenabling factors (Presence of skilled birth attendants) contributing a 20%successful earlybreastfeeding initiation among mothers who delivered at Kawempe and Naguru referral Hospitals. Conclusion: The findings from this study suggests that there is need to strengthen healthcaresupport services through training and equipping health workers to provide active assistancewithbreastfeeding immediately after post-delivery because this was found to contribute to the successrecorded in participants who were able to put their infants to breast immediately after delivery. It istherefore important to note that reinforcing factors, particularly infant response and healthcare 13 | Page support, are the most influential in determining early breastfeeding initiation. Additionally, healtheducation exposure and immediate Skin-to-Skin contact and maternal attitudes play critical enablingroles. The study further recommends the use of social media, community health workers andANCvisits to disseminate targeted breastfeeding messages.