Abstract:

Background: Worldwide breastfeeding is still under practiced and many women fail to practice it due to several factors including education level, occupation status of the mother, marital status, place of delivery, problems encountered during breastfeeding and traditions.

Aims of this study: To determine factors that affect breastfeeding rate and duration among women attending NDH in Mwanza, Northern West Tanzania.

Method: This study was a cross sectional study performed in RCH clinic of NDH.

Results: 98.1% of women had the knowledge about EBF and its duration 95.1% of women practiced exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months. Breastfeeding rate and duration was found to be affected by factors such as problems encountered during breastfeeding including insufficient milk and mastitis, marital status, and economic status of the mother.

Conclusion and recommendation: Many women are aware of what EBF means and the duration of practice. Few women knew the benefits of EBD to the baby and the mother. Still many women are not practicing EBF due to problems encountered during breastfeeding including production of insufficient milk and mastitis, mother’s economic status and marital. Education is to be given to the pregnant women at ANC, but also to the nursing mother’s education can be given at each RCH visit and through the media using television, magazines, journals and radios.