Prelacteal Feeding Practice among Primipara Mothers in Urban Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract Background: Breast feeding can save millions of lives and billions of dollars each year. It is a promising intervention to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. It makes the world healthier, smarter and more equal. However, sub-optimal infant feeding like prelacteal feeding can hamper these invaluable contributions of breast feeding. Understanding the level and influencing factors of prelacteal feeding among primipara mothers could have important implications to improve infant feeding and shade lights on breast feeding study among this group of population. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate prelacteal feeding practice and its predictors among primipara mothers. Method: A community- based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 01 to April 30 2016 among (n=398) randomly selected primipara mothers in Bahir Dar city, North West Ethiopia. Data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version25. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were executed to identify influencing factors of prelacteal feeding. Statistical significance for dependent and independent variables association was declared at P-value ≤0.05, and the strength of associations were measured using odds ratio with 95% confidence interval. Result: The current study revealed that prelacteal feeding was practiced by 15.8 % of primipara mothers. Primipara mothers, who were delivered via normal delivery (aOR=10.6, 95%CI; 1.40-80.9) and who initiated breastfeeding early (aOR=3.73, 9% CI; 1.63-8.58) were less likely to practice prelacteal feeding. Conclusion: This study revealed that prelacteal feeding is a common practice in the study area. Mode of delivery and timely initiation of breastfeeding were exclusive predictors of prelacteal feeding practice. Consequently, it was recommended that health care providers who work in maternity unity and other stakeholders should discourage unnecessary cesarean deliveries and promote timely initiation of breast feeding to hinder prelacteal feeding practice.