© 2004 by Oxford University Press
Original Papers |
Towards a Better Understanding of Exclusive Breastfeeding in the Era of HIV/AIDS: A Study of Prevalence and Factors Associated with Exclusive Breastfeeding from Birth, in Rakai,Uganda
A1 Rakai District Administration, Uganda, A2 Unit of Descriptive Statistics, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France, A3 Uganda Virus Reseach Institute, Entebbe, Uganda
Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is being promoted by WHO/UNICEF as the recommended mode of feeding for all infants from birth to around 6 months of age. It is also recommended for the initial few months, for infants born to HIV-positive mothers in the developing world where conditions may not be ideal for replacement feeding. A cross-sectional study was done to find the prevalence and factors associated with EBF from delivery, amongst mothers of infants 0–6 months of age in a rural Ugandan community with a high HIV/AIDS burden. A prevalence of EBF of 35.1 per cent was found. There was a very high use of prelacteal feeds. Factors positively associated with EBF from birth, after logistic regression, were: delivery from a health unit (OR 2.07; 95 per cent confidence interval, 1.2–3.6); and mother having a normal vaginal delivery (OR 10.54; 95 per cent CI, 3.0–36.6). Factors showing negative association were: male gender of child (OR 0.44; 95 per cent CI, 0.3–0.7); and age of child over 3 months (OR 0.48; 95 per cent CI, 0.3–0.7). Mothers knowledge of her HIV serostatus was not associated with EBF (p = 0.78). Breastfeeding is almost universal in this area but it is rarely exclusive from birth.
* Correspondence: Dr Richard Ssenyonga, 2085 Cornell Road Apt 111, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA. E-mail <richard-sk{at}excite.com>