Timely Initiation of Breastfeeding and Its Associated Factors at the Public Health Facilities of Dire Dawa City, Eastern Ethiopia, 2021.

Introduction: Timely initiation of breastfeeding is defined as putting the newborn baby to the breast within one hour of birth. Despite the World Health Organization and national recommendations on timely initiation of breastfeeding, delayed initiation of breastfeeding is still a common problem.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the timely initiation of breastfeeding and its associated factors at the public health facilities of Dire Dawa city, Eastern Ethiopia, 2021.

Methods: A health facility-based cross-sectional study was employed from February 1, 2021, to March 2, 2021, at the public health facilities of Dire Dawa city among 302 mother-child pairs. The data were collected by systematic random sampling technique, entered into Epi data 4.2, and analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Science 25.0 version. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to estimate the crude and adjusted odds ratio with a confidence interval of 95%, and a value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Frequency tables, figures, and descriptive summaries were used to describe the study variables.

Results: In this study, timely initiation of breastfeeding was 70.9% (95% CI: 65.6-75.8%). In a multivariable analysis, maternal age group of 25-40 years (AOR = 2.21, 95% CI = 1.09 - 4.48), multiparty (AOR = 2.58, 95% CI = 1.24 - 5.40), counselling on timely initiation of breastfeeding during antenatal care visits (AOR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.16 - 4.88), institutional delivery (AOR = 3.29, 95% CI = 1.27 - 8.52), vaginal delivery (AOR = 3.06, 95% CI = 1.20 - 7.81), counselling on breastfeeding immediately after delivery (AOR = 2.89, 95% CI = 1.29 - 6.45), not practicing pre lacteal feeding (AOR = 6.76, 95% CI = 2.35 - 19.44), and having good practice of colostrum feeding (AOR = 4.03, 95% CI = 1.95 - 8.36) were associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding. Mothers who had practiced timely initiation of breastfeeding were low compared to the national recommendation (92%). Age of the mother, multiparity, counseling on timely initiation of breastfeeding, institutional delivery, vaginal delivery, counseling after delivery, not practicing prelacteal feeding, and having a good practice of colostrum feeding were predictors of timely initiation of breastfeeding. It indicates a need to encourage mothers to have antenatal care visits and institutional delivery.