COMMUNITY BASED SURVEY OF BREASTFEEDING PRACTICES IN SOKOTO, NORTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

Background: Breastfeeding is one of the most effective ways to ensure child health and survival. It is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for a healthy growth and development of infants. Objective: To assess the breastfeeding practices of mothers and caregivers in Sokoto, North-western Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of consenting mothers/caregivers selected through multistage random sampling. Data was collected by using an interviewer-administered questionnaire containing questions adapted from a WHO document on indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices, and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results: A total of 353 respondents were interviewed. Their ages ranged from 18-50 years, with a mean (±SD) age of 28.8 ±6.1 years. Most 330(93.5%) were married with parity of ?3 (77.9%). More than half (50.7%) of the respondents had no formal education and (80.5%) were petty traders. Majority 180(51.0%) were of low socioeconomic status. All 353(100.0%) respondents practiced breastfeeding at some point in time. Breastfeeding was initiated immediately by 252(71.4%). A majority 287(81.3%) of them did not practice exclusive breastfeeding (EBF). Most 160(47.0%) of the respondents that had stopped breastfeeding did so between 19-24 months of age. Parity ? 3 (p=0.032), and social class (p=0.036) were significantly associated with the practice of EBF. Sociodemographic and obstetric factors were not associated with the timing of initiation of breastfeeding or weaning. Conclusion: Breastfeeding was practiced by all respondents. However, the practice of EBF was low and associated with parity and socio-economic status.