الفهرس 
• International recommendations and facts about breastfeedingOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Background: Although most organizations recommend breastfeeding for at least one year due to its well-known beneficial effects, the prevalence of breastfeeding in many developing countries is quite low and the current prevalence of breastfeeding and predictive factors for its discontinuation are not well-known. Objectives: To identify prevalence, perception, practice and predictive factors affecting breastfeeding in Cairo, Egypt. Methodology: A cross sectional study included a convenience sample of mothers attending first 6 months immunization sessions in three Primary Healthcare (PHC) Centres were selected via convenient sample. A systematic random sample is used to select180 mothers, 60 from every PHC Centre after they verbally consented to participate in our study and were subjected to an interview questionnaire. The questionnaire used was a pre-tested English questionnaire for breastfeeding mother for monitoring baby friendly hospitals after translating it into Arabic. Data collection took the period from April to August 2019. Comparison between exclusive and non-exclusive breastfeeding according to possible risk factors was done. Results: The prevalence of breastfeeding among the participants was (90.6%), however the total (0-6 months) exclusive breastfeeding rate was (39.4%). About 21.7% had mixed feeding (breastfeeding in addition to formula milk), 29.4% predominantly breastfed (water/drinks/foods), and 9.4% received exclusive formula milk. Most of the mothers were aware about benefits of feeding breast milk with highest levels of awareness were about its roles in giving immunity against asthma and allergies (83.3%), increasing child intelligence (82.2%), and reducing number gastroenteritis. Conclusions: Although, breastfeeding rate was high but the exclusive breastfeeding rate was low in the first 6 months of the infant’s age and this could be due to wide gap between theoretical knowledge of the participants and their actual breastfeeding practice. Great efforts are needed for raising exclusive breastfeeding rate via improving breastfeeding practice and proper training of the mothers.