ABSTRACT
Background Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF) is one of the most important predictors for the survival of a child, spacing between two children, and prevention from childhood infections. Breastfeeding plays an important role in reducing child mortality and morbidity but the practice of EIBF globally is way behind the required time for initiation of breastfeeding after delivery. So, we planned to evaluate the early time of initiation of breastfeeding among the postnatal mothers and to determine the predictors of early initiation of breastfeeding in a tertiary hospital setting. Methodology A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the postnatal ward of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi, Jharkhand for a period of three months (March-May 2017). Our study included 200 postnatal mothers who delivered normal and healthy babies. Mother-infant dyads enrolled in our study were interviewed personally during six hours of the postpartum period. Irrespective of the mode of delivery, all babies born during the study period whose mothers consented to be a part of the study were included. Data collected were entered in MS Excel and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Results A total of 200 postnatal mothers fulfilling the study criteria were enrolled during the study. Of them, the majority 98 (49%) belonged to the age group 18-25 years. A hundred and twenty-six (63%) of them resided in rural areas, 182 (91%) were housewives, and only 86 (43%) of them had completed secondary education & above. Early initiation of breastfeeding was found to be only 43 (21.5%) among postnatal mothers. Predictors found to be statistically significant with EIBF were mother's residential status [odds ratio (OR): 2.98; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25-7.13], educational status of mother (OR: 3.18; 95% CI: 1.12-9.01) mode of delivery of the baby (OR: 8.93; 95% CI: 2.66-30.06) and ante-natal care (ANC) visits (OR: 0.441; 95% CI: 0.311-0.651). Women's age, religion, ethnicity, occupation, type of family, and socioeconomic status displayed no statistically significant relationship with EIBF. Conclusions It is concluded that nearly one-fifth of mothers in the study initiated breastfeeding within one hour of post-delivery. Maternal education, frequent ANC visits, place of residence, and mode of delivery were also associated with EIBF in India. Nursing staff, as well as clinicians, should reinforce the importance of early initiation of breastfeeding by providing proper health education to post-natal beneficiaries.
