Practice and Determinants of Exclusive Breastfeeding: A CrossSectional Study in Ondo, South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

xclusive breastfeeding (EBF) offers enormous benefits for both babies and mothers, but it is often not practiced in most developing countries. This study evaluated breastfeeding practices, and determined the sociodemographic characteristics that influenced EBF among mothers attending infant welfare clinic (IWC) in University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH), Ondo Nigeria. This study adopted a cross-sectional study design with structured questionnaires to collect data from 170 mothers with children aged 0–18 months. Mothers attending IWC  from January 2025 to June 2025 were selected through simple random sampling. Breastfeeding practices in the last 24 hours prior to this study were assessed based on the definition by the World Health Organization. Sociodemographic characteristics, level of knowledge and practices of EBF were obtained from eligible mothers. There was a universal awareness and high level of knowledge of EBF among mothers, but the level of practice low (28.2%, n=48/170). Mothers aged <25years [aOR4.54; 95% (CI) 0.63, 1.83], aged 26-30 years [aOR4.01; 95%CI 0.76, 2.01], who had  tertiary education [aOR5.56; 95%CI 0.84, 2.56], who are civil servants [aOR4.54; 95%CI 0.43, 1.23], and who had spontaneous vagina delivery [aOR6.51; 95%CI 2.13, 3.0] were more likely to breastfeed their infants exclusively. EBF and timely complementary feeding practices are suboptimal. Age, educational status, occupation, and mode of delivery of mothers strongly predicted maternal practice of EBF. Interventions emphasizing on practical education should therefore be targeted at addressing these factors.