Exclusive Breastfeeding Knowledge of HIV Positive mothers and Associated Factors in Selected Health Institution of West Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

In Ethiopia, breastfeeding is a norm and essential for child survival. However, the pandemic HIV/AIDS and the recognition that HIV positive mothers can transmit the virus to their babies through breast milk precipitated a terrible public health dilemma in countries like Ethiopia where incidences of HIV is high. This paper aimed to assess the EBF knowledge of HIV positive mothers and associated factors in a selected health institution of West Oromia (Ethiopia). Results showed that the knowledge of EBF among HIV positive mothers. Significantly high proportion, 86.4% and 65.3% of the study participants had the knowledge on the benefits of exclusively breastfeeding and its protective role against disease in infant respectively. Similarly, the majority (80.5%) of the study participants had knowledge that breast milk alone is enough for six months. The study identified that educational level, occupation, mode of delivery had statistically significant with knowledge of HIV positive mothers on EBF (p<0.05). In other way this study showed that family size of the respondents had statistical association with knowledge of EBF (P<0.01). Of the assumed associated factors considered in this study, HIV positive mothers whose educational level were secondary school were about 11.5 times more likely had knowledge about EBF than the other educational level (AOR=11.525, 95%CI: 1.408-94.340). Moreover, mothers who attended their delivery mode by caesarean section were 4.928 times more likely had knowledge about EBF than mothers who delivered by natural delivery (AOR=4.928, 95%CI: 1.206-20.128).