| dc.description.abstract |
Background: There is a significant dip in the proportion of women who exclusively breastfeed in
Ethiopia. Therefore, understanding the opportunities and barriers is crucial to designing
appropriate interventions to ensure the national breastfeeding goals are met.
Objective: The objective of this study was to explore barriers and facilitators to exclusive
breastfeeding among mothers with infants younger than 6 months old in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Methods: A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted at Woreda 02 health center in
Lemi Kura sub city of Addis Ababa. Maximum variation sampling technique was used to recruit
twelve study participants and conduct in-depth interview at the study site from 1st January to 23rd
February 2024 using a semi-structured interview guide and voice recorder, and data analyzed by
thematic analysis method. Ethical approval was obtained from Addis Continental Institute of
Public Health and Addis Ababa City Administration Health Bureau. Consent was received from
every study participant.
Results: The study revealed perception of breastmilk insufficiency, maternal undernutrition,
infants’ unsettled behaviours, lack of healthcare workers support, family and neighborhood
influences, maternal work schedules, misinformation from the social media, and belief that
breastfeeding has adverse effects on maternal health or appearance as major barriers to EBF; and
knowledge on EBF benefits, lessons from pre-college education, adequate maternal nutrition,
having a supportive husband, paid maternity leave, availability of day care center at workplace,
and experience sharing from neighborhood as major facilitators to EBF.
Conclusion and recommendation: The multiple barriers identified in this study would have
contributed to hindering the progress towards achieving EBF targets. It is therefore recommended
to fix the barriers and building on the facilitators to expedite the progress towards EBF targets. It
is also recommended to conduct further studies in different contexts.
............. Thesis available at ACIPH Library |
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