Levels of Exclusive Breastfeeding and Correlates At 10 weeks Post- Delivery in A Rural Setting

Authors

Adenike Oluwakemi Ogah

Lecturer/Consultant Pediatrician, Masters in Neonatology, PhD (hpe), PhD (ped), Post-Doc (Neonatology). Dept of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Zambia. (Zambia)

James-Aaron Ogah

Medical Officer, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka (Zambia)

Elizabeth Edigwu Ogah

Microbiology Dept, School of Natural Science, University of Zambia, Lusaka (Zambia)

Article Information

DOI: 10.51244/IJRSI.2026.1305000099

Subject Category: Social science

Volume/Issue: 13/5 | Page No: 1079-1089

Publication Timeline

Submitted: 2026-05-04

Accepted: 2026-05-09

Published: 2026-06-01

Abstract

Background
Sustaining a high rate of adherence to exclusive breastfeeding may be challenging in resource constrained setting. This study established the levels of exclusive breastfeeding, alternate feeding patterns, health and growth impacts, among 10 weeks old infants in a remote, understudied village in East Africa.
Subject and methods
This was a secondary cross-sectional analysis of a prospective cohort data. Data of 457 out of the 529 mother- newborn pairs recruited from birth were obtained and analysed at 10 weeks post- delivery in the postnatal clinic. Infant feeding patterns were recorded and anthropometry were measured and assessed using NICE criteria for static weight growth. Mothers were interviewed using the Edinburgh postpartum depression score to assess emotional status. Both parametric and non-parametric statistics and binary logistic regression model were applied to examine the relationship between maternal/infant characteristics, feeding patterns and infant weight growth. The results were presented in p-values, Odds ratio and 95% confidence interval.

Keywords

weight faltering, frequency of breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, post-partum maternal depression score

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