ETHNO-CUTURAL IMPERATIVES AND BREAST-FEEDING INFORMATION PACKAGING: A COMMUNITY-BASED STUDY

Nte AR¹, Oruamabo RS¹, Briggs ND²

¹ Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

² Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Objective: The general objective was to assess possible influences of traditional practices on breast-feeding perception in selected rural communities in some parts of Nigeria.

Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional household survey based on the WHO-recommended 24-hour recall period for feeding practices and was conducted in Rivers State of Nigeria from September 17 to October 7, 1995 in 180 stratified randomly selected clusters. The subjects were mothers from rural communities with babies born between September 1993 and August 1995. The data were analyzed with the statistical package Epi Info Version 6.04b and χ² statistic was used in testing associations.

Results: Two hundred and thirty seven [13.8%] of 1714 mothers had babies aged 0 to 4 months; 107 of whom fully breast-fed while 130 used artificial milk in addition. Though more mothers of riverine ethnic background tended to fully breast-feed compared to those of upland background in the first four months of life [χ²=52.5,df=1,p=0.000(1.07E-10)], they were also less likely to register for orthodox antenatal care and more likely to patronize traditional birth attendants [χ²=442.0,p=0.000(0.00E-10)]. Sex of the babies did not influence breast-feeding pattern.

Conclusion: The authors advocate that the strong linkage between ethno-cultural experiences and health seeking behaviour options ought to be positively exploited when packaging information on breast-feeding.

2528