Breastfeeding practices in occupational castes of Sunsari district of Nepal

Background: Breastfeeding provides unique nutritional, immunological, psychological, child spacing benefits besides being cost effective. Childhood malnutrition remains the common health problem in developing countries. Koeri community, an occupational caste resides mainly in Terai region of Nepal. Adherence to breastfeeding recommendations in many areas of our country is not satisfactory. Objective: To find out breastfeeding practices among mothers in Koeri community in Inaruwa of Sunsari district. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Koeri community of Inaruwa Municipality. Total of 205 households were visited in two wards of Inaruwa Municipality to enroll 36 eligible mothers of the community in the study. Verbal consent was obtained. Data was collected by interview technique using semi structured questionnaire and observation of breast feeding. Proportion and percentage were calculated. Results: Meheta, Mahato, Khuswaha, Singh and Kamat castes constituted the Koeri community. They were occupationally involved in farming specially producing vegetables. Ninety-four percent newborns were colostrums fed. Breastfeeding was initiated within half an hour by around 30 % of the mothers. Prevalence of exclusively breastfeeding mothers up to six months were 38.9%. Nearly 14 % mothers initiated partial breastfeeding before their babies reached to 4 years. Attachment and positioning of babies during breastfeeding was found satisfactory among 54.2 % and 29.2% of mothers respectively. Conclusion: Though colostrums feeding to babies is common among the Koeri community, partial breastfeeding is practised before the babies reach four months of age