Background: The promotion of exclusive breastfeeding has the potential to make a major contribution to the achievement of the child Millennium Development Goals.
Objective: The aim of this study was to document the pattern of rates of exclusive breastfeeding. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study.
Materials and Methods: The study was carried out at a Child Welfare Unit of the Maternal and Child Health Centre. The tool used was an interviewer-administered questionnaire among 276 mothers who brought their infants to the Child Welfare Unit in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A systematic sampling technique was used to recruit the subjects. The data were analyzed using Epi Info statistical package, version 3.2.2 (CDC, Atlanta, GA).
Results: The maternal age ranged between 16 and 50 years with the mean age of 30.2 and a standard deviation of 7.9. The number of male infants was140 (50.7%) whereas that of the females was 136 (49.3%). Less than half of the infants (130, 47.1%) were 6 months and above whereas the remaining (146, 52.9%) were below 6 months. Of the 130 (47.1%) infants that were 6 months and above, 22.8% were exclusively breastfed for 6 months. Out of the 146 infants that were below 6 months, 56 were below 2 months, 48 were 2 to below 4 months, and 42 were 4 to below 6 months, and the rates of exclusive breastfeeding for the various categories were 41.1%, 33.3%, and 23.8%, respectively.
Conclusion: The pattern of rates of exclusive breastfeeding when stratified by infants age from below 2 months to 6 months varies between 41.1% and 22.8%. These indicate the need to pursue public awareness on exclusive breastfeeding vigorously.
Key words: Pattern, exclusive breastfeeding, Niger Delta region, Nigeria
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