Breast feeding conditions of children observed in Aydin City Efeler District family health centers in the first age and the effect of maternal attitudes and behaviors on breastfeeding duration

Introduction: Breast milk contains all constituents necessary for the physical, mental development of the newborn. In addition to the biological and emotional effect on the mother and infant, breast feeding also has many immunological, psychological, social and economic advantages for both the mother and the infant. World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) suggests feeding all infants only with breast milk in the first six months after birth, starting complementary feeding in the 7th month and continuing breast feeding until two years of age. Although different health practices are applied across the world to extend breast feeding, it is not used as commonly as suggested. Objective of the Study: To evaluate the prevalence of only breast feeding in the first six months and breast feeding in the first year and also the effect of breast feeding characteristics on breast feeding duration in our region. Material and Method: The cross-sectional and descriptive study was performed in Aydın Efeler district between 01 October 2019 and 31 December 2019 in six urban and two rural family health centers selected randomly. Sampling size was calculated as 160. The questionnaire form prepared to collect information on sociodemographic characteristics and breast feeding was applied face to face by the researcher. For data evaluation, in addition to descriptive statistics, chi square test was used for the comparison of categorical variables and multiple logistic regression analyses were made to determine the effect of independent variables on dependent variables independent from the mixers and also to determine their effect degree. Significance level was accepted as p<0.05. Findings: Mean age of 225 infants participating in the study was 19.1±5.0 months while it was 30.4±5.2 years for their mothers. 51.1% of the infants were female and 48.9% were male and 48.4% were the first children of the families. 61.3% of the infants were delivered through caesarean and 51.6% were using pacifier/feeding bottle. 5.8% of the mothers were smoking during their pregnancy. 8.4% of the mothers had postpartum depression story. 68.0% of the mothers stated that they were the only ones taking care of their infants. 77.3% of the mothers took breast feeding training at least once. 89.1% of the mothers taking breast feeding training took this training in the health institution they delivered their babies. Only breast feeding duration of infants was 3.5±2.4 months in average and only breast feeding rate was 32.9% in the first six months. The infants were breast fed for an average duration of 10.2±3.4 months and the rate of infants continuing breast feeding at the end of one year was 74.7%. 81.3% of the mothers started to breast feed in the first hour after delivery and 91.6% started in the first day after delivery. 32% of the mothers used formula milk at the end of the first month and this rate was 38.7% at the end of the 12th month. Most common formula milk starting causes were milk deficiency in 61.9% and growth retardation concern in 31.7%. 36.4% of the mothers started complementary feeding before suggested time and the most common cause was stated as milk deficiency with a rate of 52.3%. Mean starting time to give water was 3.8±2.2 months. 49.3% of the mothers started to give water to their infants with complementary feeding. Probability of only breast feeding in the first six months was 4.0 times more in infants started to be breast fed in the first hour after delivery compared to those not breast fed, was 3.4 times more in infants not using pacifier/feeding bottle compared to those using them and was 2.8 times more in infants breast fed longer than 15 minutes each time in the first month compared to those who were breast fed less. Probability of continuing breast feeding at the end of age 1 was 11.5 times more in infants not using pacifier/feeding bottle compared to those using these, 6.0 times more in infants started to be fed in the first day after delivery compared to those not breast fed, 4.8 times more in infants only looked after by their mothers compared to infants of supported mothers, 4.2 times higher in infants fed longer than 15 minutes each time in the first month compared to those less breast fed and 3.5 times more in infants fed whenever they demanded in the fifth month compared to those fed at regular intervals. Conclusion: In our study, although only breast feeding rate in the first six months was detected lower than Turkey's average in our area, breast feeding starting rates in the first hour and the first day after delivery are better than the country's average. Common pacifier/feeding bottle use affects breast feeding negatively. The infant sucking each breast for at least 15 minutes during a breast-feeding session especially in the first months and increasing the time the mother spends with her infant positively effects breast feeding. Keywords: Breast milk, breast feeding, breast feeding duration, breast feeding frequency, formula milk, supplementary food.