Sociodemographic predictors of knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers attending primary health centres in Ethiope West, Delta State Nigeria.

Background: A mother's sociodemographic characteristics influence her practice of breastfeeding and are vital in determining the overall well-being of the baby. This study assessed the sociodemographic predictors of the knowledge and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among lactating mothers attending primary health centres in Ethiope West LGA of Delta State.

Methodology: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among 360 mothers of children aged 6-15 months attending six primary health centres in Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State. Data was collected on sociodemographic factors, knowledge, and practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers. There were 8 questions that assessed the knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding. A mother was assessed to have good knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding when she answered correctly at least 6 out of the 8 questions. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 26.0.

Results: The respondents were aged 15-41 years with the majority (47.4%) being 20-29 years and a mean age of 28.92±6.89 years. They were mainly Urhobos (62.8%), married (78.9%), with about half (50.6%) of the participants in the lowest social class and about 43.3% having at least a secondary education. Most (78%) respondents had a good knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding but only about one-third (36%) were exclusively breastfed. Logistic regression analysis showed the odds of practicing EBF to be about twice in married women compared to the unmarried (AOR= 1.90, 95% CI= 1.007-3.591, p=0.014) and that the level of education was predictive of knowledge of EBF (AOR= 12.89, 95% CI= 4.006-40.901; p=0.001).

Conclusion: Despite the good knowledge of EBF, its practice was poor with marital status being the most important predictor of EBF.