ORIGINAL ARTICLE Year : 2023  |  Volume : 14  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 73-76

Factors working against exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women living around Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja

Olaolorunpo Olorunfemi1, Ifedun Rachael Awe2, Gbemisola Bolanle Ogbeye3, Olamide Oluyemisi Oluwagbemi3, Wakeel Adelani Tijani3
1 Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, Federal University, Oye, Ekiti State, Nigeria
2 Department of Nursing Science, Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomosho, Oyo, Nigeria
3 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, Federal University, Oye, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Date of Submission07-Jan-2023Date of Decision30-Jan-2023Date of Acceptance05-Feb-2023Date of Web Publication04-Jul-2023

Correspondence Address:
Mr. Olaolorunpo Olorunfemi
Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Faculty of Basic Medical Science, Federal University, Oye, Ekiti State
Nigeria

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None

DOI: 10.4103/injms.injms_2_23

Background: Many human rights issues addressed by various right conventions center on breastfeeding. One of these is the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which outlines fundamental human rights for children, such as the right to life, the right to develop to their full potential, and the right to be protected from harmful influences. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the elements affecting working-class women's exclusive breastfeeding. Materials and Methods: The sample size (n = 196) for a descriptive cross-sectional study that ran from September 2022 to December 2022 was determined using a multistage sampling procedure. Tables, percentages, and Chi-square test statistics were employed at the 0.05 level of significance to examine the data using the Statistical Package Service Software (SPSS) version 23.0. Results: 48% of the respondents were within the age of 30 and 39 years. The majority of respondents (98%) identified the following factors as influencing the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women: job (93.9%), sore nipple (86.2%), insufficient lactation (43.9%), nipple not prominent (15.8%), not allowed by work (93.9%), breast milk alone before 6 months does not satisfy my baby (58.7%), lack of support from husband (67.9%), mother-in-law (76.5%), as well as inadequate maternity leave (67.9%) as the factors influencing the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women. In addition, this study shows a significant correlation between working-class women's Knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding and age (Chi-square = 6.016, df = 3, P = 0.024) and the number of children they had (Chi-square = 5.816, df = 3, P = 0.011). Conclusions: This study therefore suggests, among other things, that the state and federal Ministries of Labor and Employment set up childcare for the infant close to the mothers' places of employment to allow their babies to be brought to the workplace or breastfeeding mothers to go to the childcare facility at the time of breastfeeding.

Keywords: Exclusive breastfeeding, factors, Nigeria, working-class women

How to cite this article:
Olorunfemi O, Awe IR, Ogbeye GB, Oluwagbemi OO, Tijani WA. Factors working against exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women living around Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja. Indian J Med Spec 2023;14:73-6
How to cite this URL:
Olorunfemi O, Awe IR, Ogbeye GB, Oluwagbemi OO, Tijani WA. Factors working against exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women living around Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja. Indian J Med Spec [serial online] 2023 [cited 2023 Jul 4];14:73-6. Available from: http://www.ijms.in/text.asp?2023/14/2/73/380392   Introduction 

Breastfeeding is the best approach to give infants the ideal nourishment they need for healthy growth and development.[1] Health professionals, global health organizations, and laypeople all agree that exclusive breastfeeding benefits mothers and children.[2] In Nigeria, 84% of infants younger than 2 months are said to be exclusively breastfed. However, only 39% of infants are still exclusively breastfed at age 4–5 months.[3] Numerous efforts and labor-intensive work to encourage exclusive breastfeeding have yielded fewer than anticipated results,[4] and numerous studies have been carried out in Nigeria and other parts of the world to understand and appreciate the dynamics of the practice.[5],[6] These researches[7],[8] have largely concentrated on the causes of and obstacles to exclusive breastfeeding.

While other researchers have also taken into account the potential role of husbands in breastfeeding decisions, several studies have examined the health consequences of both exclusive and nonexclusive breast feeding.[9],[10],[11] Examining the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among professional working mothers, particularly in Nigeria, has received much less attention. In contrast to the foregoing assumption, the study examined the variables affecting exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women in the vicinity of Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja.

  Materials and Methods 

From September to November 2022, a descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. The study took place in Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council in Abuja, Nigeria. Women from the working class made up the target demographic. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the sample size, which was 196 members of the target group. First Stage: A list of the streets was gathered, and 50 streets were chosen at random from the community's more than 100 streets. Second Stage: With a sampling interval of two, the houses on each street were chosen using a systematic sampling technique. A beginning point was simply established by selecting the first house on the street, which had an average of 16 residences per street. Third Stage: From each residence, one working-class woman was chosen. When there were multiple working-class women present, a simple random selection method called balloting was used to choose one of them. Until the necessary sample size (196) was reached, this procedure was repeated.

Sample size determination

The sample size was calculated using the Taro Yamane methodology of sample size determination, where n = sample size, e = margin of error = 0.05, a confidence level of 95%, and a sample size of 196 were utilized. Being a working-class nursing, mother was a must. However, working-class nursing mothers who were hospitalized or ill and were unable to participate in the study were excluded from it.

To gather information for the study, a validated and self-structured questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was created to look at the variables affecting working-class women's decision to exclusively breastfeed. It has 31 questions divided into the following four sections: Section A: Sociodemographic characteristics (6 items), Section B: Maternal knowledge on exclusive breastfeeding (10 items), Section C: Maternal attitudes and beliefs on exclusive breastfeeding (6 items), and Section D: Factors associated with the practice of exclusive breastfeeding (9 items). The tool was approved by experts in nursing departments through content validity. In addition, responses from 20 working-class women in Zuba Village, Gwagwalada Local Government Areas (LGA) in Abuja Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, were gathered using a test–retest approach. The same was gathered and examined to determine the instrument's dependability. Using SPSS version 23, the instrument's internal consistency was examined. 0.85 was the reliability test result. This demonstrates the instrument's dependability.

Method of data analysis

The data were processed and analyzed using SPSS statistical software version 23.0 once the researcher confirmed that the questionnaires were complete (IBM Corp., 2012, Armonk, NY, USA: IBM, Inc.)

Ethical approval

On September 1, 2022, the research department of the Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council in Abuja accepted it under reference number FCAC/GAC/PHC/2023/1. The goals and advantages of the study were communicated to the responders after the eligible participant gave their written informed consent. They were also informed of their unlimited ability to withdraw at any time. Information about participants was kept secret while data were being collected. Participants' names and other kinds of identification were not asked on the questionnaire to maintain confidentiality and anonymity.

  Results 

The demographics of the respondents are displayed in [Table 1]. In terms of age, 48.0% of people were between the ages of 30 and 39, 34.7% were between the ages of 20 and 29, 14.3% were between the ages of 40 and 49, and only 3.1% were over the age of 50. About 50.0% of respondents identified as Muslims, 41.8% as Christians, and 8.2% as followers of other religions. About 8.2% of respondents identified as Igbo, 28.6% as Yoruba, 50.0% as Hausa, and 13.3% as belonging to other tribes, according to the tribal distribution of the respondents. The majority of respondents (61.7%) were married, followed by single people (7.3%), divorcés (14.8%), and widows (6.2%). The data also reveals that while 14.3% of respondents were raised in polygamous families, 85.7% of respondents were in monogamous marriages. The variables linked to participants' practice of exclusive breastfeeding are listed in [Table 2]. However, it identified the following factors as being associated with the practice of exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women: job (93.9%), sore nipple (86.2%), inadequate lactation (43.9%), nipple not prominent (15.8%), not allowed by work (93.9%), breast milk alone before 6 months does not satisfy my baby (58.7%), the husband does not support exclusive breastfeeding (67.9%), a mother-in-law does not support exclusive breastfeeding (76.5%), as well as inadequate maternity leave. [Table 3] demonstrates that there is adequate evidence to conclude that working-class women know about exclusive breastfeeding when they are older (Chi-square = 6.016, df = 3, P = 0.024). Consequently, the null hypothesis is disproved. However, it is determined that among working-class women, there is a substantial correlation between age and awareness of exclusive breastfeeding.

Table 1: Sociodemographic distribution of respondents among working-class women living around Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja

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Table 2: Factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding practice among working-class women living around Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja

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Table 3: Chi-square test of Age vs. Knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women living around Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja

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Based on the table, there is enough data to conclude that working-class women are more likely to know about exclusive breastfeeding when they have more children (Chi-square = 5.816, df = 3, P = 0.011). Consequently, the null hypothesis is disproved. However, it is determined that working-class women's awareness of exclusive breastfeeding and the number of children they have are significantly correlated [Table 4].

Table 4: Chi-square test of Number of children vs. Knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women living around Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja

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  Discussion 

According to [Table 1], which summarizes the study's findings, 48.0% of the population-the majority-was between the ages of 30 and 39, 34.7% was between the ages of 20 and 29, 14.3% was between the ages of 40 and 49, and only 3.1% had reached the age of 50 or older. This supports research on the characteristics influencing mothers in Ikot Omin, Calabar, Nigeria, who practice exclusive breastfeeding, which indicated that the majority of respondents were in the age range of 21–30, had completed secondary and tertiary education, were married, and had one to three children.[12]

Factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding practice

Job (93.9%), sore nipple (86.2%), insufficient lactation (43.9%), nipple not prominent (15.8%), not permitted by work (93.9%), breast milk alone before 6 months does not satisfy my baby (58.7%), the husband does not support exclusive breastfeeding (67.9%), a mother-in-law does not support exclusive breastfeeding (76.5%), as well as insufficient maternity leave (67.9%) were the findings of the study. These support findings from other studies[13],[14] that found workplace and maternal factors (maternity leave and working hours) to be copredictors of exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months among urban employed mothers. Maternal factors included family income, attitudes, intention, confidence, and knowledge.

Relationship between age and knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding

The results of the tested hypothesis are shown in [Table 3], which provides significant evidence of a relationship between age and awareness of exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women (Chi-square = 6.016, df = 3, P = 0.024). This is consistent with other research[15],[16] that discovered a connection between maternal age and exclusive breastfeeding, indicating that as maternal age rises, so do knowledge and duration of exclusive breastfeeding.

Relationship between number of children and knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding

[Table 4]'s results for the tested hypothesis provide convincing evidence of a link between working-class women's awareness of exclusive breastfeeding and the number of children they have (Chi-square = 5.816, df = 3, P = 0.011). This supports the findings of a study by Machila et al. from 2021, which suggested a connection between sociodemographic factors and knowledge, practice, and awareness of exclusive breastfeeding among women of reproductive age attending a maternal and child health clinic in Tudor Sub-County Hospital.[17]

  Conclusions 

The study suggests, among other things, that the state and federal Ministries of Labor and Employment set up childcare for the infant close to the mothers' places of employment to allow their babies to be brought to the workplace or breastfeeding mothers to go to the childcare facility at the time of breastfeeding. Nursing specialists would be made aware of the many factors impacting exclusive breastfeeding among working-class women if this finding is properly utilized. However, this will enable health professionals to close the information gap about exclusive breastfeeding.

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely appreciate all working-class women living around Dagiri Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja, that participated in the study.

Financial support and sponsorship

None.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

 

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  [Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4]