Socio-Demographic Determinants of the Practice of Exclusive Breastfeeding among Mothers Visiting School Demonstration Clinic, College of Health, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State

Abstract

This study examined the socio-demographic determinants of the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers visiting the Demonstration Clinic of Rivers State College of Health Science and Management Technology in Obio/Akpor Local Government area of Rivers State. Four (4) research questions served as a direction for this study. The research design used in this study was a descriptive study design. The population of the study consisted of nine hundred and twenty (920) mothers who visited the School Demonstration Clinic, College of Health, Rivers State during the period of the study. The sample size was determined using the Taro Yamene formula. The study adopted a simple random sampling method to sample 279 respondents from School Demonstration Clinic, College of Health, Rivers State. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire which was developed by the researchers. The result of this study showed that the grand mean 3.13±0.79 is greater than the criterion mean of 2.5 indicating a high level of the practice of exclusive breastfeeding. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that exclusive breastfeeding was practiced at a high level among women who visited School Demonstration Clinic, College of Health, Rivers State and the predominant socio-demographic determinants of the practice of exclusive breastfeeding found among the women were age, parity and educational background. It was recommended that nutritionists should take into consideration the age, cultural belief, and the occupation of mothers when designing nutritional programmes such as baby-friendly initiatives for women.