Knowledge of breastfeeding practice and associated factors among fathers whose wife delivered in last one year in Gurage Zone, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts. It confers short-term and long-term benefits for both child and mother, including helping to protect children against a variety of acute and chronic disorders. In mothers, breastfeeding (BF) reduces postpartum bleeding, enhances accelerated involution of the uterus, and plays a crucial role in child spacing. Fathers have an important but often neglected role in the promotion of healthy breastfeeding practices. Evidence shows that mothers who have a supportive and encouraging partner are more likely to plan to breastfeed for a longer duration. So, this study was aimed to assess knowledge and associated factors towards breastfeeding practice among fathers. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Gurage Zone among 597 fathers. One stage cluster sampling technique was used to select study participants. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data and it was checked for consistency and completeness and entered into epi data and exported to SPSS for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to identify independent predictors. P-value < 0.05 was considered to declare a result as statistically significant. RESULT: In this study, a total of 585 participants were involved making a response rate of 98%. The overall knowledge status of participants was 341 (58.3%). The mean age of participants was 29.5 (SD±4.5). Urban residence, educational status, exposure to media, having more than one baby at home, and accompany his wife during health-seeking were independent predictors of knowledge status. CONCLUSION: This study has shown the level of knowledge of fathers towards breastfeeding in the study area was low (58.3%). Residence, two or more babies at home, accompany during ANC, and indexed infant illness was independent predictors of knowledge status of fathers towards breastfeeding. Policymakers and possible stack holders should better focus on the improvement of knowledge because the knowledge determines the overall condition of the family including the psychological development of the children that affect their life especially in a country like Ethiopia in which most of the decisions are made by them. Other researchers focus on the interaction of parents and the child and feeding disorders.