Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate the factors influencing breastfeeding among children aged 0 to 6 months received in an urban community health center in Abidjan Cocody (Côte d'Ivoire).

Methods: To do this, a cross-sectional and analytical study was conducted in the Anono Urban Community Health Service with 362 mothers interviewed using survey cards. The socio-economic characteristics, the choice of breastfeeding, the type of breastfeeding influencing breastfeeding were studied. The study ran from March to April 2018. The data was processed using Excel 2007.

Results: The results showed that some factors hinder exclusive breastfeeding. Mothers' function was an impediment to exclusive breastfeeding, 43.93% were civil servants and 29.56% were students and 26.51% were housewives or shopkeepers. In our study, more than 40% of mothers did not practice exclusive breastfeeding for a cosmetic problem, 31% were related to the sex of the baby, 15% associated with caesarean delivery, 11% for low education level and 2.5% because of the age of the mother. Among the civil servant mothers, or students, 100% practiced mixed breastfeeding. Overall (362) of the mothers surveyed, over 54% practiced mixed breastfeeding. The majority of these mothers introduced water (52%), fruit juice (24%), cereals (15%) and herbal teas at 9%. More than 47% were unable to practice exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. In this study there is a problem of satiety at 25.41%, insufficient milk secretion 19.34% and other conditions contraindicated for exclusive breastfeeding.

Conclusion: The factors of the non-practice of exclusive breastfeeding were low education level, function, early introduction of solid foods, aesthetic problem, and unavailability of time of mothers, satiety problem, insufficient milk secretion and conditions for breastfeeding. These factors will have to be taken into account in the strategy to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding and its continuation up to six months in mothers in communes where the standard of living is relatively high.

Keywords: Mixed breastfeeding; Food introduction; Influencing factors