Infant feeding practices among HIV positive mothers enrolled in selected public health institutions of Wolaita, Ethiopia: facility-based multicenter crosssectional study

Abstract

Introduction: mixed feeding practices among HIV positive mothers increases the risk of HIV transmission by 3-4 folds. Approximately 37.7 million people globally live with HIV, of these, 1.7 were children aged from 0-14 years. Globally, about 1.5 million people captured the new HIV in 2020. Nearly 90% of HIV infection among pediatrics is due to vertical transmission. However, there is no data regarding the feeding practices of HIV-positive mothers in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the magnitude of infant feeding practices among HIV-infected mothers in Wolaita, Ethiopia. Methods: an institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 146 HIV positive in selected hospitals of Wolaita from February to June 2021. A simple random sampling was employed to select health facilities. Data were collected by face to face interviewer who administered a structured questionnaire with document review. Data entry was done by Epi data version 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics were used to show the results. Results: out of 146 HIV-positive mothers were involved in the study. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding, exclusive replacement feeding, and mixed feeding practices among mothers with HIV in the present study was found to be 49.3%, 19.9%, and 30.8% respectively in Wolaita. Conclusion: exclusive breastfeeding and exclusive replacement feeding in the current study area was found to be significantly low when compared to global recommendations for feeding options for HIV-positive mothers. Therefore, all stakeholders are recommended to put an extraordinary effort to fill the gap.