A study on infant feeding practice among mothers of muslim community of Kolkata

Breast feeding is regarded as the first immunisation of child. It should begin immediately after birth. It provides nutritional, immunological, behavioural, and economic benefits. Although breastfeeding is commonly practiced in India, less children are given breastfeeding within one hour of birth. Despite increased awareness on exclusive breastfeeding the prevalence and duration are still at a low level. The primary objective of the study was to assess infant feeding practices among mothers of Muslim community, the specific objective was to (a) measure proportion of mothers-initiated breastfeeding within first hour of birth of the baby with respect to mothers’ age group, education level, place of delivery and family income and reasons for delay thereof, (b) measure proportion of mothers conducted pre lacteal feed and (c) proportion of mothers-initiated colostrum breastfeeding. A cross-sectional study with the help of self-administered questionnaire on feeding practices was conducted among 540 Muslim mothers having children up to 1 year of age across 6 Muslim dominated areas of Kolkata during the period 1st Nov.2017 to 31st Dec.2018. The study showed that though all children were breastfed (100%), breastfeeding within first hour of birth was given by only 24.81% of mothers which is quite alarming. Among early initiators of breastfeeding, under various categories majority i.e 43.33% consists of mothers in the age of 15-19 years, 48.48% among illiterates, 38.89% among home deliveries and 39.13% among family having income of