Socio demographic factors associated with duration of exclusive breastfeeding among mothers attending maternal child health clinics in Kuching, Sarawak, 2009

(1'hemain objective ofthe study was to identify the socio demographic factors associated with the duration of exclusive breastfeeding practices among mothers attending Maternal Child Health (MCH) Clinic in Kuching, Sarawak. A cross sectional study among 159 mothers in 3 MCH clinics in Kuching were conducted in April and Mei 2009. A systematic random sampling method was used and data was collected through a set ofsupervised selfcompleted questionnaire. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 14.0. The results of the study showed 88.1% mothers in Kuching district practiced breastfeeding and the rate of exclusive breastfeeding till 6 months postpartum was 39%) There was a significant correlation between the ethnicity and working status with the duration of exclusive breastfeeding practice. The common reasons for mothers to discontinue breastfeeding were "lactation problem" and "working". The most common lactation problem was a "milk insufficiency". Regarding the knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding, all the mothers were knowledgeable with the score more than 6 (median score=6). However there was no significant association between the knowledge 'of exclusive breastfeeding and the duration ofexclusive breastfeeding