Table 3 Percent distribution of early initiation of breastfeeding and EBF by background characteristics, among infants six weeks old and still alive at the time of the interview, PMA Ethiopia 2019–2021 cohort (n = 2564)
Background characteristics | Time to First Breastfeed | P value | Exclusively breastfed | P value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Early n (%) | Delayed n (%) | Â | Yes n (%) | No n (%) | Â | |
Maternal age (in years) | ||||||
 15–19 | 207 (75.8%) | 66 (24.2%) | 0.067 | 165 (60.4%) | 108 (39.6%) | 0.022* |
 20–24 | 504(81.3%) | 116 (18.7%) |  | 440 (70.9%) | 181 (29.1%) |  |
 25–34 | 972(77.7%) | 280 (22.3%) |  | 864 (69.0%) | 388 (31.0%) |  |
 35–49 | 312(74.6%) | 106 (25.4%) |  | 285 (68.2%) | 133 (31,8%) |  |
Maternal education | ||||||
 Never attended | 813 (77.2%) | 240 (22.8%) | 0.001* | 751 (71.4%) | 302 (28.6%) | 0.101 |
 Primary | 781 (76.3%) | 243 (23.7%) |  | 660 (64.4%) | 364 (35.6%) |  |
 Secondary /higher | 402 (82.5%) | 85 (17.5%) |  | 343 (70.4%) | 144 (29.6%) |  |
Marital status | ||||||
 Married | 1907 (78.0%) | 536 (22.0%) | 0.795 | 1666 (68.2%) | 777 (31.8%) | 0.465 |
 Unmarried/divorced/widowed | 89 (73.7%) | 32 (26.3%) |  | 88 (72.6%) | 33 (27.4%) |  |
Residence | ||||||
 Urban | 474 (81.2%) | 110 (18.8%) | 0.000* | 394 (67.5%) | 190 (32.5%) | 0.244 |
 Rural | 1521 (76.8%) | 459 (23.2%) |  | 1360(68.7%) | 621 (31.3%) |  |
Region | ||||||
 Addis | 82 (79.0%) | 22 (21.0%) | 0.000* | 59 (56.7%) | 45 (43.3%) | 0.000* |
 Afar | 32 (64.3%) | 18 (35.7%) |  | 24 (47.5%) | 26 (52.5%) |  |
 Amhara | 377 (71.4%) | 151 (28.6%) |  | 405 (76.8%) | 122 (23.2%) |  |
 Oromia | 921 (82.1%) | 200 (17.9%) |  | 776 (69.2%) | 345 (30.8%) |  |
 SNNP | 456 (78.1%) | 128 (21.9%) |  | 347 (59.4%) | 237 (40.6%) |  |
 Tigray | 128 (72.0%) | 50 (28.0%) |  | 144 (80.7%) | 34 (19.3%) |  |
Religion | ||||||
 Protestant | 507 (78.4%) | 140 (21.6%) | 0.578 | 414 (64.0%) | 233 (36.0%) | 0.000* |
 Orthodox | 735 (73.4%) | 266 (26.6%) |  | 724 (72.4%) | 277 (27.6%) |  |
 Muslim | 713 (82.3%) | 153 (17.7%) |  | 583 (67.3%) | 283 (32.7%) |  |
 Catholic/other | 40 (81.6%) | 9 (18.4%) |  | 32 (64.6%) | 18 (35.4%) |  |
Parity | ||||||
| Â | Â | Â | 0.467 | Â | Â | 0.019 |
 1 | 781 (76.02%) | 247 (23.98%) |  | 676 (65.7%) | 352(34.3%) |  |
 2 +  | 1996 (77.84%) | 568 (22.16%) |  | 1078 (70.2%) | 458 (29.8%) |  |
Wealth quintile | ||||||
 Low | 789 (76.7%) | 239 (23.3%) | 0.002* | 694 (67.4%) | 335 (32.6%) | 0.066 |
 Middle | 396 (78.0%) | 112 (22.0%) |  | 354 (69.7%) | 154 (30.3%) |  |
 High | 810 (78.9%) | 217 (21.1%) |  | 706 (68.7%) | 321 (31.3%) |  |
Antenatal care visits | ||||||
 Zero visit | 614 (77.0%) | 184 (23.0%) | 0.009* | 506 (63.4%) | 292 (36.6%) | 0.000* |
 1–3 visits | 613 (76.9%) | 184 (23.1%) |  | 572 (71.8%) | 224 (28.2%) |  |
 4 or more visits | 769 (79.3%) | 201 (20.7%) |  | 676 (69.7%) | 294 (30.3%) |  |
Delivery place | ||||||
 Home | 864 (73.9%) | 306 (26.1%) | 0.000* | 801 (68.5%) | 368 (31.5%) | 0.139 |
 Facility | 1132 (81.2%) | 263 (18.8%) |  | 953 (68.3%) | 442 (31.7%) |  |
Mode of delivery | ||||||
 Vaginal | 1915 (79.0%) | 509 (21.0%) | 0.000* | 1666 (68.7%) | 757 (31.3%) | 0.112 |
 Caesarean | 81 (57.7%) | 60 (42.3%) |  | 88 (62.5%) | 53 (37.5%) |  |
Skilled birth attendant | ||||||
 Yes | 1219 (81.2%) | 283 (18.8%) | 0.000* | 1026 (68.3%) | 476 (31.7%) | 0.178 |
 No | 776 (73.1%) | 285 (26.9%) |  | 727 (68.5%) | 334 (31.5%) |  |
Maternity waiting home use before labor | ||||||
 Yes | 296 (78.5%) | 81 (21.5%) | 0.062 | 263 (69.8%) | 114 (30.2%) | 0.019* |
 No | 1699 (77.7%) | 487 (22.3%) |  | 1490 (68.2%) | 696 (31.8%) |  |
PNC | ||||||
 No | 1284 (76.0%) | 405 (24.0%) | 0.000* | 1167 (69.1%) | 587 (67.0%) | 0.492 |
 Yes | 712 (81.3%) | 163 (18.7%) |  | 587 (67.0%) | 289 (33.0%) |  |
Discussion about EBF during PNC | ||||||
 Yes | 287 (77.3%) | 84 (22.7%) | 0.388 | 250 (67.2%) | 122 (32.8%) | 0.784 |
 No | 1709 (77.9%) | 484 (22.1) |  | 1504 (68.6%) | 688 (31.4%) |  |
Obstetric complication | ||||||
 Yes | 694 (72.6%) | 262 (27.4%) | 0.000* | 635 (66.4%) | 322 (33.6%0 | 0.089 |
 No | 1302 (81.0%) | 306 (19.0%) |  | 1119 (69.6%) | 489 (30.4%) |  |
Pregnancy intention | ||||||
 Intended | 1279 (78.5%) | 350 (21.5%) | 0.979 | 1114 (68.4%) | 515 (31.6%) | 0.900 |
 Unintended | 717 (76.7%) | 218 (23.3%) |  | 640 (68.4%) | 295 (31.6%) |  |
Newborn’s sex | ||||||
 Male | 1028 (78.5%) | 282 (21.5%) | 0.314 | 875 (66.8%) | 435 (33.2%) | 0.000* |
 Female | 967 (79.9%) | 244 (20.1%) |  | 878 (72.6%) | 332 (27.4%) |  |
Birth outcome | ||||||
 Single | 1968 (78.1%) | 552 (21.9%) | 0.002* | 1751 (69.5%) | 770 (30.5%) | 0.000* |
 Twin | 28 (63.4%) | 16 (36.6%) |  | 3 (7.0%) | 40 (93.0%) |  |
Baby cry/breathe normally immediately after birth | ||||||
 Yes | 1952 (79.8%) | 494 (20.2%) | 0.000* | 1707 (69.8%) | 740 (30.2%) | 0.000* |
 No | 43 (36.9%) | 74 (63.1%) |  | 47 (40.2%) | 70 (59.8%) |  |
Baby placed on mother’s chest immediately after delivery | ||||||
 Yes | 976 (84.8%) | 174 (15.2%) | 0.000* | 813 (70.7%) | 337 (29.3%) | 0.000* |
 No | 1020 (72.1%) | 394 (27.9%) |  | 941 (66.6%) | 473 (33.4%) |  |
Infant illness since birth | ||||||
 No illness | 1193 (78.6%) | 325 (21.4%) | 0.039* | 1104 (72.7%) | 414 (27.3%) | 0.000* |
 Any illness | 803 (76.7%) | 244 (23.3%) |  | 650 (62.1%) | 397 (37.9%) |  |