27. Factors Leading to Declining Breastfeeding in Our Society
Anila Farhat1, Mujeeb Ur Rehman2, Hamayun Anwar1, Sajid Shamim1, Imran and Muhammad Athar Khalil4
ABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the factors leading to declining breastfeeding trends in our society.
Study Design: cross sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Pediatrics Department, King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, Mansehra from September 2018 to February 2019.
Materials and Methods: 260 children were included in this study with help of a predesigned questionnaire containing data like name, age, sex of the child, maternal education, father’s income, exclusive breastfeeding, duration of total breast feeding and the reasons of not breastfeeding. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16.
Results: The mean age was 10.06 months. 164 (63%) were male and 96 (37%) were female. The frequency of exclusive breastfeeding was 55 (21%). The mean duration of breast feeding was 6 months. The most common reason for not breastfeeding was having ‘Not enough breast milk’ which was 68.5%. Other reason for not breastfeeding include maternal illness 5.8%, medical reason 1.9%, social myths 5%, working mothers 0.4%, baby not gaining weight 3.1%, Baby illness 8.5%, pregnancy 5.8% and advice from other women not to breastfed 0.4%.
Conclusion: The duration of exclusive breastfeeding in our region is low as compared to other areas of Pakistan. The most common reason for declining breastfeeding in our setup was ‘not having enough breast milk’. We recommend that further studies should be undertaken to know the basic pathophysiology and reasons why these mother did not have enough breast milk.
Key Words: exclusive breastfeeding, factors, decline in breastfeeding.
Citation of article: Farhat A, Rehman M, Anwar H, Imran SS, Khalil MA. Factors Leading to Declining Breastfeeding in Our Society. Med Forum 2019;30(3):109-113.