Association of Social Support From Family on Mothers Decision to Breastfeed Their Babies

Abstract

Objective: To describe the relationship of social support from family on mothers behavior to breastfeed her baby.
Methods: A total of 200 mothers having children less than six months of age coming to vaccination center of DHQ Hospital II, Okara were interviewed. Questions about demographics, feeding practices and social support from family were asked. Chi square analysis was conducted to compare feeding practices with hypothesized correlates.
Results: 43% women of total 200 were below 25 years of age and 57% above 25 years of age. 93.5% were Punjabi speaking and 6.5% were other languages speaking. Majority (99.4%) were Muslims.69% families had income below Rs 10,000 per month. 44.6% mothers initiated breastfeeding in the first hour after birth. Early initiation of breastfeeding was associated with social support from family/in laws (2 =13.978, p=0.001, DF=1). Social support from family was also significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding (2 =17.454, p=0.001, DF=1).
Conclusions: Early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding is associated with social support from family.