KNOWLEDGE ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE REGARDING INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING PRACTICES AMONG MOTHERS IN NORTH KERALA DURING THE COVID19 PANDEMIC.

INTRODUCTION: The infant feeding practice differs among the different cultures across the globe. Therefore, many movements have been initiated in recent years to optimize feeding practices. One of the crucial parts is protecting, promoting and supporting breast milk for newborn babies. But, unfortunately, there are many discrepancies between what has been recommended and what is being practised in reality. Various factors, including beliefs, social, cultural, and economic factors, inuence the feeding practices in rural India. '' (1) This current research highlights the knowledge attitude and practice of the mothers regarding infant feeding practice. OBJECTIVES:To assess the different sociodemographic factors affecting feeding practices. To nd the knowledge, attitude and practice of infant feeding among mothers of north Kerala. RESULTS:The knowledge regarding feeding practices among Kerala mothers is high, owing to the mother's educational status. (2) CONCLUSION: The results obtained from the current research help formulate specic interventional programs in the future.

Infant Feeding Practice and Associated Factors among HIV Positive Mothers at Health Institution of Shashemene Town, South Ethiopia

Objective: To assess Infant feeding practice and associated factors among HIV positive mothers at health institution of Shashemene town, South Ethiopia. Materials and methods: Facility based cross sectional study was conducted. The study used all the study population as source of data since they are small in number hence sample size calculation was not needed. This study was conducted at health institutions which provide ART and PMTCT service at Shashemene town. Structured questionnaires were developed by reviewing different literatures. Data collectors were trained and data were collected from February to March 2018. The data were analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 20, descriptive statistics as well as bivariate and multivariate analysis were computed to identify the independent predictor of infant feeding practice and to control effect of confounders. Results: On this study majority 175 (90.7%) of respondent breast feed their infants. Regarding feeding option about 154 (79.8%) chose EBF followed by complementary feeding. Concerning feeding practice majority of respondent 172 (89.1%) utilize safe feeding practice. On multivariate analysis only Counseling provided by health professional on infant feeding option was found as independent predictors of infant feeding practice with [AOR = 4.538 (CI = 1.099, 18.736)]. Conclusion: Higher proportion of HIV positive mothers follow safe infant feeding practice. Counseling by health professional was found as independent predictors of infant feeding practice. Further counseling by health professional needed to discourage mixed feeding practice.

Exclusive Breast-Feeding Practice and Associated Factors among HIV-Positive Mothers in Governmental Health Facilities, Southern Ethiopia

Introduction. Globally, over 90% of HIV infections among children are due to mother-to-child transmission and breastfeeding accounts for 5–20% of the burden. Avoidance of inappropriate feeding practices and practicing exclusive breastfeeding is recommended to reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission, but it is hardly practiced. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding practice and associated factors among HIV-positive mothers attending governmental PMTCT clinics in Southern Ethiopia. Methods. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2019. The participants of the study were 209 HIV-positive mothers at the selected PMTCT sites. The study subjects were drawn from 10 health institutions located at 6 towns in Southern Ethiopia which constituted six hospitals and four health centers. Quantitative data were collected using the pretested structured questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between the predictors and outcome variable. Results. Among the 209 participants, 81.6% (95% CI: 75.8–86.5) practiced exclusive breastfeeding and 18.4% (95% CI: 13.5–23.7) practiced mixed feeding. Mothers who had attended the recommended four antenatal visits [AOR: 3.01, 95% CI (1.1–8.28)], who had disclosed their serostatus [AOR: 3.17, 95% CI (1.12–8.99)], who had sufficient knowledge about infant feeding practice [AOR: 3.32, 95% CI (1.15–9.55)], and favorable attitude towards infant feeding practice [AOR: 5.39, 95% CI (1.65–17.6)] were more likely to practice exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion. Exclusive breastfeeding was predominantly practiced. But mixed feeding was also being practice considerably. Improving maternal knowledge and attitude towards appropriate infant feeding practice through appropriate counseling on ANC visits could significantly improve EBF practice. It was also evident that promoting disclose of serostatus could empower the mothers to make an informed decision on how to appropriately feed their newborn.

Mixed Infant Feeding Practice and Associated Factors among HIV-Positive Women under Care in Gondar City’s Public Health Facilities within Two Years Postpartum: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background. Mixed infant feeding practice remains a major setback for effective prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV program and updated evidences on this issue is essential for better interventions. Therefore, this study was aimed at assessing the proportion and associated factors of mixed infant feeding practice among HIV-positive women under care in public health institutions in Gondar city within two years postpartum, Ethiopia, 2017. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 485 HIV-positive women under care in Gondar City’s health facilities from May 1 to June 30/2017. Data were collected via interviewer administered questionnaire supplemented with chart review, entered into Epinfo version 7.0 and then exported to SPSS version 20.0. Both bivariable and multivariable analyses were done, and the statistical significance of each variable was claimed based on the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and its P value ≤0.05. Result. The proportion of HIV-positive women practicing mixed infant feeding was 21.6%. Whereas, about 73.8% and 4.5% of the mothers demonstrated exclusive breastfeeding and exclusive replacement feeding, respectively. Mixed infant feeding practice was independently predicted by lack of antenatal care (AOR=6.9; 95% CI: 3.4, 14.1) and home delivery (AOR=2.8; 95% CI: 1.4, 5.4). Conclusion. The magnitude of mixed infant feeding practice was higher than the reports of many other studies, and its predictors were connected to poor adherence to maternal health care service utilization. Hence, stakeholders need to work more on ANC and facility delivery service coverage.

The Effect of Postpartum Depression on Infant Feeding Practice in Sub-Saharan African Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: Postpartum depression (PND) is a type of mood disorder that affects women after childbirth. Despite the detailed research related to these maternal and infant health outcomes, the relationship between postpartum depression and infant breastfeeding remains ambiguous. Hence, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of maternal postpartum depression on infant feeding practice in Sub-Saharan African Countries.Method: This systematic review and meta-analysis was reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis. PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct and Cochrane Library were systematically searched for relevant articles. STATA version 14 was used to calculate the pooled effect size with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) of postpartum depression on infant feeding practice using the DerSimonian and Laird random effects meta-analysis. The heterogeneity and publication bias was assessed by using I2 test statistics and Egger’s test respectively.Result: Total of 1058 published and unpublished article were retrieved from different data bases. Finally four studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria for this systematic review and meta- analysis. This meta-analysis found that postpartum depression has no significant effect on the infant feeding practices (OR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.18, 1.14).Conclusion: We did not find sufficient evidence to conclude the effect of postpartum depression on infant feeding practice. Thus, the investigators strongly recommend the researchers to conducted randomised control trail studies in Sub-Sahara African countries.

Infants and young children feeding practice and associated factors among HIV positive mothers of children 0–23 months in health centers of Gulele sub-city, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Objective A health facility based cross sectional study design was conducted among 358 randomly selected HIV positive mothers attending at four health centers from February 1 to 28, 2018. Magnitude of HIV positive mothers’ child feeding practice and associated factors was assessed according to WHO recommendation. Data were collected using structured pretested questionnaire and entered into EPI data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20 computer software for analysis. Result The magnitude of recommended way of infant feeding practice among HIV positive mothers attending public health centers in Gulele sub-city is 37.4%, 95% CI (32.26–42.67). Statistically significant correlates of HIV exposed infant feeding practice of mothers in this study were knowledge of mother on HIV exposed infant feeding practice (AOR = 1.80 (95% CI 1.04–3.01)), head of family being father (AOR = 0.17 (95% CI 0.03–0.87)), having family (relatives) support (AOR = 2.05 (95% CI 1.00–4.18)) and information on HIV exposed infant feeding, practice (AOR = 1.77 (95% CI 1.07–2.93)).