Study of factors affecting uptake of exclusive Breastfeeding among HIV positive postnatal mothers in Kitwe urban district

The main objectives of this study were to (i) to determine if educational level affect Uptake of exclusive breastfeeding among HIV positive postnatal mothers. (ii) to establish whether lack of decision making powers affect Uptake of exclusive breastfeeding among HIV positive postnatal mothers. (iii) to establish if social cultural stigma affects Uptake of exclusive breastfeeding among HIV positive postnatal mothers. This was a descriptive study and was conducted in all the clinics, which have implemented the PMTCT programme in Kitwe urban district. Data was collected using a Survey Questionnaire and One to One In - depth interviews. Qualitative data was analysed using Content analysis with the help of the N vivo software version 2.2. Quantitative data was analysed selecting univariate and bivariate analysis. Simple random sampling was used to sample the mothers. The study came up with the following findings; there was an association between education level and uptake of exclusive breastfeeding. The results were statistically significant (X2 4.99; p value 0.025). Mothers with high education took up exclusive breastfeeding more than mothers with low education. However, there was no association between decision making and uptake of exclusive breastfeeding. The two were statistically different (X2 2.87; p value 0.237). As for social cultural stigma, the study’s findings were that there was an association between social cultural stigma and uptake of exclusive breastfeeding. The observed differences were statistically significant (X2 10.74; p value 0.001).
In conclusion, the factors affecting uptake of exclusive breastfeeding were noted to be level of education of mothers and social cultural stigma.