Factors Associated with Early Initiation of Breastfeeding Among mothers with Children Aged of less than six month

Abstract Introduction: early initiation of breastfeeding is one important intervention to prevent childhood morbidities and mortalities, despite the benefits and efforts to promote breastfeeding, early initiation of breastfeeding is sub optimally practiced in many developing countries. Objectives: aimed to assess early initiation of breastfeeding and associated factors among mothers with children aged of less than six months in Attending Benadir Hospital, Somalia Methodology: Institutional based cross sectional study design, A total of 383 All mothers of infant less than six months of age visited pediatric, maternal department especially (mothers with new-born or child had a postnatal checkup, child immunization and under five medical consultations after delivery) at benadir hospital, Somalia was selected. Results: the prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding was found to be 208(75%) Significant factors (p < 0.05) associated with early initiation of breastfeeding included the mother's age (p- value = 0.045), being a housewife (unemployed) (p-value = 0.000), institutional delivery (p- value = 0.038), Normal deliveries (p-value = 0.026), attending antenatal care (p-value = 0.008) at a public hospital or maternal and child Health (facility (p-value = 0.040), having information on early initiation of breastfeeding (p-value = 0.000) at healthcare center as a source of early initiation of breastfeeding information (p-value = 0.000) and formula milk (p-value = 0.000) Mothers who did not prefer to give formula milk before breastfeeding were less likely to practice in early initiation of breastfeeding. However, no significant associations (p < 0.05) were found between early initiation of breastfeeding and several other variables, including mother’s educational level, marital status, parity, home delivery, and assistance during birth. Conclusion and Recommendation: Conclusion and Recommendation: The prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding was good. Several factors affect early initiation of breastfeeding; to increase early initiation of breastfeeding rates and improve overall breastfeeding outcomes, strengthening early initiation of breastfeeding through provision of access to health service e.g., antenatal care services, postnatal care, educating mothers through behavior change communication counselling and strengthening health professionals’ knowledge, and skills on breastfeeding counseling were recommended.