Factors Associated with Breastfeeding Practice among Mothers in Medan, Indonesia

Abstract

Background:  Breastfeeding has been recognized worldwide for its multiple benefits for both infants and mothers. In adequate mother’s knowledge, negative attitude toward breastfeeding, and lack of husband’s support may influence breastfeeding practice and constitute barriers to optimize the increasing of breastfeeding practices.

Methods: This study aimed to identify factors associated with breastfeeding practice among mothers with infants aged 1-6 months in Medan, Indonesia with the Precede-Proceed Model as a guideline. A cross-sectional design was applied. Participants were selected from five Health Integrated Posts (Posyandu) of Primary Health Center in Medan, Indonesia, using a multi-stage sampling method. A total of 374 participants were selected and asked to complete five self-administered questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used for data analysis.

Results: The study revealed that breastfeeding practice of mothers were at a moderate level (M = 2.84,
SD = 1.70). Only 9.1% of mothers performed exclusive breastfeeding practice. Furthermore, majority of participants were at moderate level of breastfeeding knowledge (M= 23.32, SD = 3.47), attitude toward breastfeeding (M = 4691.47, SD = 1106.86), and husband’s support (M = 3.03, SD = 0.93). The inferential analysis found breastfeeding knowledge and attitude toward breastfeeding were not associated with breastfeeding practice (p- value> .05). Meanwhile, husband support was positively significant association with breastfeeding practice (p- value< .01).

Conclusion: Husband support was the important factor that correlated with breast feeding practice. The rate of exclusive breastfeeding practice of mother in this study was lower than previous studies and the recommendation by World Health Organization (WHO). Based on these findings, health care providers should involve husbands to support mothers during breastfeeding and to improve breastfeeding practice of mothers in Medan, Indonesia.