Estimation of the Cost of Infant Feeding During the First 6 Months of Life in New Juaben Municipality.

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Many studies have proven that breast milk is the most important infant feed, and in the first six months of life, it is adequate for sustenance. Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months of life has been recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) as the best infant feeding strategy. Breast milk provides infants with the antibodies and nourishment needed to begin a healthy life. Mixed feeding with breast milk and other fluids/foods is common in Ghana, starting from around the third month after delivery. In Ghana, the cost of feeding an infant remains unknown. 

Objective: To determine the cost of infant feeding during the first six months of life.

Methods: This study was a cross sectional study. A total of 417 mothers with infants (≥ 6 months) attending postnatal services were recruited for this study from 4 hospitals in the New Juaben south municipality. The hospitals were SDA hospital, St. Joseph’s hospital, Providence hospital and the Koforidua regional hospital. Mothers who were apparently healthy were recruited as they qualified for the study until the sample size target was reached. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on maternal socioeconomic and demographic factors, child feeding practices, and cost of feeding items. Data were entered and cleaned with STATA version 14. Continuous variables were reported using means and standard deviations whereas categorical variables were reported in frequencies and percentages. Independent Student’s T-test was used to compare exclusive breastfeeding and mixed feeding costs whereas binary logistic regression was used to find the association between feeding cost and the maternal factors. Level of significance was tested at p < 0.05. 

Results: The mean age ± standard deviation of the women was 29.8± 5.0 years. The majority of the women were between 18 and 29 years (52.5%), had post-basic education (59.8%), were non salaried workers (58.4%), married (81.9%) and were Christians (81.2%). Over three-thirds of the women practicing mixed feeding (88.5%) and breastfeeding (84.6%) bought breastfeeding brassier during the first 6 months of life. Almost all the women who practiced mixed feeding (96.3%) and breastfeeding (93.4%) bought feeding utensils during the infant’s first six months of life. The average total cost of feeding for 6 months since birth was significantly higher for mixed feeders as compared to exclusive breast milk feeders (1111.7 ± 10.83.3 vrs 885.1 ± 952.9, p-value = 0.025). Salaried mothers were almost five times more likely to have high infant feeding cost as compared with non-salaried mothers (OR: 4.91, 95%  CI 3.0, 7.93, p-value < 0.001) whereas mothers who practised mixed feeding were almost twice more like to have high infant cost of feeding as compared exclusive breastfeeding mothers ( OR: 1.84, 95% CI 1.25,  2.72,  p -value =  0.02).

Conclusion: The prevalence of appropriate initiation breastfeeding was high among the mothers while the rate of exclusive breastfeeding was low. The cost of mixed feeding was higher than exclusive breastfeeding. Salaried mothers and those who practised mixed feeding spent more money on infant feeding. 

Recommendation: Education should be intensified on exclusive breastfeeding. Further research should be conducted on the cost of infant feeding within the 6 months of life.