study of the factors influencing breast feeding patterns in Al Taif, West Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this work is to study the factors influencing breast-feeding patterns in Al-Taif region, West Saudi Arabia. A survey was carried out in Al-Taif, West Saudi Arabia on a random multistage cluster sample of 4000 households. All women who had delivered a live birth or expected to deliver from January to June 1999 in the primary segments were interviewed. These women were visited once every month for one year to collect data about child feeding practices following a live birth. Mothers were asked about their area of residence, age, parity, occupation, education, family income, type and place of delivery, contraceptive use, outcome of previous pregnancies, pre-natal care of the breast and at what age and why breast-feeding was stopped. Out of 4000 household sampled, 670 mothers [18%] delivered a live birth between January and June 1999. The crude birthrate was 39 per 1000 and the male female infant ratio was 1.05 1.00. Forty per cent of the mothers were between the age of 25 and 35 and with an average of 6.2 pregnancies and 5.3 children. Most came from middle socioeconomic backgrounds with family income $ 500-1000 per month; 18% were illiterate, 48% had primary education, 22% had secondary education, and 12% had university education. Of the infants, 25% were exclusively breast-fed initially then dropped to 21% at 3 months, and to 5% at 1 year. Only 12% of babies were exclusively bottle-fed initially, but by 6 months the figure had increased to 21%. By the age of one year, 39% of the babies had ceased to receive any breast milk. The median age of weaning was 8 months. Factors significantly associated with duration of breast-feeding were maternal age, level of education, area of residence, occupation, family income, place and type of delivery and contraceptive use. The most common reasons for refusing to breastfeed were inadequate milk secretion and the mother's employment outside the home