ABSTRACT

Appropriate and adequate infant feeding practices are an important factor in achieving optimal health in infants. This study was conducted to examine the use of breast milk substitutes by lactating mothers in selected rural locations in Enugu State. The study was a cross-sectional study .A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 340 respondents. Data on socio-demographic/economic characteristics, characteristic of the index child, attitude and utilization of breast milk substitutes of the infants were collected using structured and validated questionnaire. The IBM SPSS version 22.0 computer programme was used to analyze the data. Significant relationship was judged at p ≤ 0.05. Data obtained were described using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. Regression analysis was used to analyze the factors associated with the use of breast milk substitutes.. From the result, most (67.4%) of the respondents are married and live with their husbands and among the working mothers, majority (91.5%) of them receive maternity leave. Some (40.6%) of the mothers fed their infants with infant formula/milk at delivery which was an advice given to more than half (50.3%) of them by the doctor/nurse/midwife. Meanwhile, majority (92.4%) of the respondents were aware of breast milk substitutes, some of them currently feed their infants with both breast milk and infant formula. Some (47.1%) of the women preferred using a specific brand of instant formula because it is good for their baby (24.1%), their doctor recommended it for them (20%) and their friends use it (17.4%). However, majority (73.4%) of the respondents have a positive attitude towards breast milk substitutes. From the anthropometric indices of the infants, majority of them had normal weight-for-height (57.4%), weight-for-age (76.8%), height-for-age (85.4%) and BMI-for-age (74.1%). Meanwhile, there was a significant relationship (p=0.001) between maternity leave and respondent’s attitude towards breast milk substitutes. There was also a significant relationship between being young (p=0.003), low income (p=0.042) and the use of breast milk substitutes by the respondents. Realizing that maternal employment is among the factors that influence the use of breast milk substitutes, there is need to increase awareness on maternity protection for working mothers in favor of improved maternal conditions that are related to optimal infant feeding.