Differences in Social and Cultural Perception between Mothers of Exclusive Breastfeeding and Non-Exclusive Breastfeeding in the Health Center of Kota Utara, Gorontalo, Indonesia

摘要

The golden standard of feeding in infants and children begins immediately breastfeeding within 1 h after birth. Breastfeeding exclusively start from birth until 6 mo, then the baby gets complementary foods according to the needs of their growth and continues breastfeeding up to 24 mo or more. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in social perceptions culture between breastfeeding exclusively and not exclusively in The Health Center of Kota Utara, Gorontalo City, Indonesia. A total of 112 participants were included in the study by randomized control sampling. Subjects of this study were breastfeeding mothers and mothers who had toddlers (0–3 y old) and had a history of breastfeeding. Results were that 58.9% of respondents gave exclusive breastfeeding consists of 64.30% younger mother and 78.90% respondents with tertiary education. 80.35% gave colostrum, 41.1% gave complementary foods to infants 6 mo, 100% family support for exclusive breastfeeding, and 58.92% respondents had good perceptions. Different test results showed there are significant differences ( p =0.000) between the perceptions of nursing mothers who provide exclusive breastfeeding and mothers who did not provide exclusive breastfeeding. There were significant perceptual differences between mothers who give exclusive breastfeeding with non-exclusive ones.