The Impact of Antenatal Care and Nutrition Counseling on the Success of Exclusive Breastfeeding and Appropriate First Complementary Foods

Abstract

Background: Proper breastfeeding and complementary feeding at the beginning of birth until the age of 24 months has an important role in optimizing nutrition for the first 1000 days of life to obtain optimal individual health status until adulthood. Objectives: This study aims to analyze the impact of antenatal care (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC), especially nutritional counseling on the success of exclusive breastfeeding and appropriate complementary foods. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design from secondary data from basic health research (RISKESDAS) in DKI Jakarta Province with a total sample of 230 mothers aged 15-49 years who had children aged 6-24 months. Data were analyzed univariate, bivariate using the Chi-Square test and multivariate using multiple logistic regression tests. Results: The results showed that the coverage of exclusive breastfeeding was 56.5% and proper complementary food was 39.6%. The results of the Chi Square test showed that there was a relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and maternal age (p = 0.025) (OR: 2.21 95% CI: 1.09 – 4.48), maternal education (p = 0.008) (OR: 4.80 95% CI: 1.79 – 12.8) , maternal parity (p = 0.009) (OR: 2.58 95% CI: 1.25 – 5.30), antenatal care (p = 0.000) (OR: 4.82 95% CI: 2.13 – 10.9), and postnatal counseling (p = 0.006) (OR: 2.72 95% CI: 1.31 – 5.65). Meanwhile, on the accuracy of complementary feeding, there was a relationship between maternal age (p = 0.027) (OR 2.32 95% CI 1.07-5.02), maternal education (p = 0.000) (OR 3.16 95% CI 1.67-5.98), maternal parity (p = 0.027) (OR 2.36 95% CI 1.08- 5.17), received ANC (p = 0.000) (OR 4.61 95% CI 1.84-11.6), and nutrition counseling (p = 0.004) (OR 2.98 95% CI 1.38-6.43). The most dominant variable with the success of exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding for the first time is ANC with odds ratios of 4.82 and 4.08, respectively, after being controlled by postnatal counseling. Conclusion: This study shows that the impact of ANC and PNC, especially nutritional counseling, has a role in the success of exclusive breastfeeding and the appropriateness of giving complementary foods for the first time. ANC and PNC, especially nutrition counseling, are very important for every pregnant woman and need to be socialized to relevant policy makers and pregnant women's families.