Abstract:
Background: Breastfeeding of children, which needs to continue until two years and beyond, is one of the
essential requirements for child survival. However, in Ethiopia there is scarcity of literatures on the duration of
breastfeeding. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the rate of cessation of breastfeeding among mothers
with index children aged 2 to 3 years, northwest Ethiopia.
Methods: A retrospective follow-up study was conducted at Debre Markos town from March 1, 2014 to March 30,
2016. A total of 500 mother-child pairs were selected using the systematic random sampling method by moving
from house to house with an interval of three eligible houses. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data.
The Cox regression model was employed to identify the predictors of breastfeeding cessation.
Results: The proportion of women breastfeeding until 2 years was 13.70 per 1000 person- months. HIV-positive
mothers decreased the time of breastfeeding by 3.4 times compared to HIV-negative mothers (AHR = 3.41, 95% CI:
1.96, 5.94). Government employee mothers decreased the time of breastfeeding by 2.8 times compared to
housewives (AHR = 2.8, 95% CI: 1.80, 4.40).Better education increased the time of breastfeeding (AHR = 0.45, 95% CI:
0.24, 0.58). Number of children, family income, and place of delivery were the other significant predictors of time to
cessation of breastfeeding (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: In this study, the rate of cessation of breastfeeding was good. HIV negative mothers, government
employment, number of children, place of delivery, and family monthly income were significant predictors to the
time of breastfeeding cessation. Therefore, family planning and breastfeeding education in health institutions are
essential to increase breastfeeding duration
