Abstract:
Background: Breast feeding technique is a combination of positioning, attachment, and suckling of breast milk. Breastfeeding problems are caused by incorrect BFT practices, which lead to premature discontinuation of breastfeeding. Inappropriate feeding practices result in more than two-thirds of deaths that occurs worldwide during the first year of life. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of breast feeding technique practice and associated factors among lactating primipara mothers during the postnatal period in Debre Markos town health institutions, 2021. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from November 1st to December 30, 2021. A systematic sampling technique was utilized to select study participants. An observational checklist developed by WHO and an intervieweradministered questionnaire were used to collect data from 409 mothers. The collected data were entered into Epi data version 4.6.0.4 statistical software and then exported to SPSS version 24.0 for cleaning and analysis. Binary and multivariable logistic regression were carried out to identify the factors associated with effective breast feeding techniques. A variable that has p-value <0.2 were transferred to multivariable for further analysis. The strength of association was identified using adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI), and p-value <0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: In this study, the proportion of effective breast feeding technique practice among lactating primipara mothers was 29.1% (CI: 24.7, 33.3). Baby aged ≥29 days (AOR=3.0, 95%_CI: 1.490, 5.903), mothers who were living in urban (AOR=2.65, 95%_CI: 1.036,6.765), mothers who≥college education or higher (AOR=4.12, 95%_CI: 1.432, 11.851), mothers who have heard about BFT (AOR=2.56, 95%_CI: 1.353, 4.832), mothers who received counseling on BFT after delivery (AOR=3.8, 95%_CI: 1.981, 7.285), mothers whose breast nipples had everted (AOR=5.23, 95%_CI: 2.052, 13.348) were variables that were significantly associated with effective breast feeding techniques. Conclusion and recommendation: The finding of this study revealed that the practice of effective BFT was lower in the study area. Therefore, a health care providers should have to counsel mothers and disseminate information on how to position and attach their infants to their breasts
