ABSTRACT

 Optimal breastfeeding as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) includes immediate initiation of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding for at least two years with optimal complementary feeding from six months and despite the established benefits of optimal breastfeeding, about 60% of infants in developing countries are not exclusively breastfed for six months. The study aimed at assessing the prediction of intended breastfeeding style based on the health belief model of primiparous and multiparous pregnant women in urban locations in Abia state. A cross-sectional study was adopted which included 163 pregnant women in the study areas. A well-structured and validated questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-economic characteristics, health belief and intended breastfeeding style ofthe primiparous and multiparous pregnant women. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23.0. According to the findings, the results revealed that majority (84%) ofthe respondents were between 31-40 years and more than half (52.1%) of the respondents were not in their first pregnancy with one third (44.2%) ofrespondents living with husband only and majority (72.4%) attained tertiary education.The study also indicated the Health belief model (HBM) towards intended breastfeeding style that both primiparous and multiparous pregnant women have a low perceived susceptibility to the negative effects of not practicing exclusive breastfeeding but concern is marginally higher (-0.28±1.06) in multiparous mothers while high concerns (0.59±0.8) was seen in primiparous respondents towards perceived severity. Result revealed that majority (35.6%) of primiparous and 36.2% multiparous pregnant women intended to start nursing within the first hour following birth. Furthermore, the result shows the intention to exclusively breastfeed showed significant positive correlations with perceived susceptibility (r=0.293, p=0.001), perceived severity (r=0.223, p=0.001), perceived benefits (r=0.221, p=0.001), cue to action (r=0.226, p=0.001), self-efficacy (r=0.258, p=0.001) which shows that higher perceived risks, severity of consequences. The results of this study confirms that multiparous mothers seem more positively inclined and confident about exclusive breastfeeding, possibly due to prior experience, while primiparous mothers may need additional support and education to enhance their perceptions of benefits and reduce perceived barriers and Health Belief Model is a useful framework for understanding and predicting breastfeeding intentions, particularly for exclusive breastfeeding