Exclusive breast-feeding in the first six months: findings from a cross-sectional survey in Mulago hospital, Uganda

BACKGROUND: Improving maternal and child health, one of the key UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is a major challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Exclusive breast-feeding contributes significantly to child survival and development, but many mothers in Africa do not exclusively breastfeed their infants. This paper reports a study in Mulago hospital in Kampala. The study aims to identify factors influencing mothers' choices of infant feeding practices. METHODS: Mixed methods were used. Respondents included 362 lactating mothers and health workers. Participants were who came for treatment were selected using simple random sampling. EpiInfor and SPSS were used for analysing the data and presented as descriptive study. RESULTS: Results indicate that socio-demographic factors including age and education level influence mothers' ability and willingness to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months. Awareness about breast-feeding was mainly obtained from health centres, leaving mothers unable to attend these centres to miss out on vital information about exclusive breast-feeding. Around 43% of health workers were unaware of the country's Young and Infant Feeding Policy Guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: To increase the rate of exclusive breast-feeding in Uganda, it is important that community health is strengthened, and health workers are trained on national breast-feeding policies.