Empowering early breastfeeding: Determinants of timely initiation among the infants in a rural Indian medical centre

Table 1 Sociodemographic variables, n (%)

Variables
Place of residence
Rural	261 (68.7)
Urban	119 (31.3)
Mean age of mothers in years (mean ± SD)	24.34 ± 3.83
Average gestational age in weeks (mean ± SD)	38.42 ± 1.32
Education of mothers
Up to SSC (high school)	197 (51.9)
Beyond SSC (high school)	183 (48.1)
Religion
Hindu	341(89.7)
Others	39 (10.3)
Profession
Non-working (housewife)	368 (96.9)
Working	12 (3.1)
Gravidity
Primigravida	116 (30.5)
Multigravida	264 (69.5)
Maternal counselling
Done	317 (83.4)
Not done	63 (16.6)
Mothers with previous breastfeeding experience
Yes	236 (62.1)
No	144 (37.9)
Mothers having other medical illnesses
Yes	52 (13.7)
No	328 (86.3)
Gender of the newborn
Male	212 (55.8)
Female	168 (44.2)
Mode of delivery
Vaginal delivery	95 (25)
Caesarean section	285 (75)
Newborns receiving prelacteal feeds
Yes	15 (3.9)
No	365 (96.1)
Mothers having lactation problems
Yes	69 (18.2)
No	311 (81.8)

n: Number of mothers; SSC: Secondary school certificate examination.

Table 2 Comparison of the factors influencing the early initiation of breastfeeding, n (%)

Factor	EIBF 193 (50.8)	Late initiation of breastfeeding, 187 (49.2)	P value
Residence
Rural residence	131 (67.9)	130 (69.5)	0.73
Urban residence	62 (32.1)	57 (30.5)
Maternal age
18-20 years	26 (13.5)	34 (18.2)
21-30 years	149 (77.2)	145 (77.5)	0.087
31-40 years education	18 (9.3)	8 (4.3)
Education up to high school	90 (46.6)	107 (57.2)	0.0389
Education beyond high school	103 (53.3)	80 (42.8)
Religion
Hindu	170 (88.1)	171 (91.4)	0.2805
Others (Muslim, Jain)	23 (11.5)	16 (8.6)
Profession
Not working (housewife)	186 (96.4)	182 (97.3)	0.53
Working	7 (3.6)	5 (2.7)
Maternal counselling
Done	178 (92.2)	140 (74.9)	0.0001
Not done brestfeeding experience	15 (7.8)	47 (25.1)
Mothers with previous breastfeeding experience	143 (74.1)	93 (49.7)	0.0001
Without previous BF experience	50 (25.9)	94 (50.3)
Mothers with other medical illnesses
Present	14 (7.3)	38 (20.3)	0.0001
Absent	179 (92.7)	149 (79.7)
Gender of the newborn
Male	105 (54.4)	107 (57.2)	0.58
Female	88 (45.6)	80 (42.8)
Mode of delivery
Vaginal delivery	66 (34.2)	29 (15.5)	0.0001
Caesarean section	127 (65.8)	158 (84.5)
Newborns receiving prelacteal feeds
Not received	191 (99)	174 (93.3)	0.031
Received	2 (1)	13 (6.7)
Mothers having lactational problems
Present	13 (6.7)	56 (29.9)	0.0001
Absent	180 (93.3)	131 (70.1)

EIBF: Early initiation of breastfeeding.

Table 3 Multivariate Logistic regression analysis

Impact factor	Regression coefficient	2.5%	97.5%	Adjusted odds ratio	Conclusion
Maternal counselling	1.2588312	1.7751	6.9855	3.5	Significant
Previous breastfeeding experience	0.8624945	1.4606	3.8426	2.4	Significant
Maternal illness	-1.2394842	0.1419	0.5908	0.3	Significant
Mode of delivery LSCS	-0.8624333	0.2442	0.7299	0.4	Significant
Lactational problems	-1.6379762	0.0982	0.3847	0.2	Significant

LSCS: Lower segment cesarean section.