DETERMINANT OF EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING AMONG MOTHERS ATTENDING MASAKA REGIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL. MASAKA-UGANDA

Introduction:World health organization (WHO) and United Nations international childrens fund (UNICEF) recommend all mothers should initiate breastfeeding immediately with the first hours of delivery, thereafter mothers are encouraged to breastfeed their children for at least six months of life before introducing any form of complementary feeding. it is on this global call to promote meeting up with the target set by UNICEF in 2025, a study was conducted in Uganda to assess the determinant of exclusive breastfeeding among breastfeeding mothers attending Masaka regional referral hospital. Methodology:The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 220 consenting breastfeeding mothers. The data from the survey was statistically analyzed using SPSS vs 26 and information was presented in frequency tables, bar, and pie charts. Results:This study showed that the majority of the 220 participants were between the age of 26-30years, 81 (36.8%) with 194 (88.2%) were married and 94 (42.7%) had secondary education. It also showed that 56 (25.5%) did ANC visits more than four times with the majority 151 (68.6%) delivered by spontaneous vaginal delivery. 172 (78.2%) delivered at health facility and stayed at the facility for about 1-2 days. 100% of all babies were healthy and did not report any congenital malformations and 213 (96.8%) have never been admitted for malnutrition. The prevalence of EBF was 65.9%. Variables such as Age of the child, the weight of the child, mothers employment, educational status, and religion were statistically significant at P < 0.005. Conclusions:This study showed that the rate of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers attending Masaka regional referral hospital was generally above the expected target by WHA 2025.Hence strategies of improving health education about the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding to the mother and child should be in place.It is recommended that rigorous interventions can build on this study to achieve the WHO recommendation of all infants should be breastfed exclusively 100%.