Factor Associate with Early Initiation and Exclusive Breastfeeding Practice During the First Six Months of Age at Ghorahi, Dang, Nepal.

Introduction: Breastfeeding is the right for the new born infant and should be feed with in first hour after birth. Exclusive breastfeeding promotes optimal neonate and infant growth as it contributes to 100% of the daily nutrition requirements. Exclusive breastfeeding protects the neonates and infants from various communicable and noncommunicable diseases. In additional it reduce total family and social expenditure, reduce health care cost, which is the single most cost-effective intervention for reducing child mortality in resource constrained setting like Nepal. Knowledge of the mothers on breastfeeding practice also hinders early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding practice. The aim of the study is “To assess the prevalence of early initiation on breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding on mother of 6 to 11 months of age children who visiting the immunization clinic of Rapti Academy of Health Sciences. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Rapti Academy of Health Sciences, Ghorahi, Dang, Nepal. Total 340 children of 6 to 11 months mothers were included in the study. The semi-structured questionnaire was used, include socio-demographic variables, knowledge and practice on early initiation on breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding are the tools for data collection. All collected data were analyzed by using SPSS-25 version software. Chi-square test was applied to measure association between knowledge and practice on early initiation on breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding. P-value is set at alpha α=0.05. Results: Out of 340 respondents 204(60%) respondents don’t know timing of early initiation of breastfeeding. In practice of early initiation of breastfeeding 178(52.4%) respondents practice to breastfeeding their child within an hour. 339(99.7%) respondents ha knowledge about exclusive breastfeeding. 210(61.8%) respondents practice more than 12 time for exclusive breastfeeding per day. Mode of delivery and birth order of children are strongly association with knowledge and practice on early initiation on breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: The participants are aware of colostrum and exclusive breastfeeding benefits but lack knowledge on early initiation. The mode of delivery and birth order significantly influence early and exclusive breastfeeding, highlighting the need for targeted education. Keywords: EBF, RAHS, WHO, Breastfeeding, Association