Factors associated with colostrum feeding practice among mothers who attended child immunization clinic in Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: colostrum is yellow to orange-colored milk produced during the first few days of lactation and it is rich in nutrients and antibodies that have a greater role in the health of the newborn baby. Despite the World Health Organization's recommendation that every newborn baby has to be fed breast milk colostrum within one hour of delivery, poor colostrum feeding practice is still a common problem in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess colostrum feeding practice and associated factors among mothers who attended child immunization clinic at the public health facilities of Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia, 2021.

Methods: a health facilities-based cross-sectional study was employed from February 1/2021 to, March 2/2021 in the public health facilities of Dire Dawa City among 292 mothers. The data were collected by systematic random sampling technique, entered into Epi data 4.2, and analyzed using the Statistical Package of Social Sciences 25.0 version. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate the crude and adjusted odds ratio with a confidence interval of 95% and a P-value of less than 0.05, considered statistically significant. Frequency tables and descriptive summaries were used to describe the study variables.

Results: in this study 68.8% [95% CI: 63.4-74.3] of the mothers had good colostrum feeding practices. In multivariable analysis living in urban [AOR=2.52, 95% CI=1.08-5.88], secondary and above education [AOR=2.79, 95% CI=1.12-6.98], having antenatal care visit [AOR=3.12, 95% CI=1.12-9.21], counselled on timely initiation of breastfeeding [AOR=2.59, 95%, CI=1.02-6.59], counselled on colostrum feeding [AOR=2.65, 95%, CI=1.12-6.30], birth attended by healthcare professional [AOR=3.20, 95% CI=1.23-8.31], source of information [AOR=3.89, 95%, CI=1.54-9.82] and good knowledge on colostrum feeding and breastfeeding [AOR=3.53, 95%, CI=1.56-7.96] were found to be associated with practice of colostrum feeding.

Conclusion: in the present study, mothers who had good colostrum feeding practices were low. Socio-demographic, obstetrics, and knowledge-related factors were associated with colostrum feeding practice. Promoting antenatal care visits and maternal education on colostrum feeding is recommended to increase the colostrum feeding practice of the mothers.