Infant feeding practices in the first six months of life among HIV positive mothers attending Teaching Hospitals in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: In the absence of any interventions, 5-20% of infants born to HIVinfected women will be infected through breastfeeding. Objectives: This study determined the pattern of infant feeding in the first six months among HIV positive women attending Teaching Hospitals in Lagos. Methods: It was a cross sectional descriptive study. All mothers who were registered between July and September 2012 in the ‘Prevention of mother to child transmission’ (PMTCT) clinic were interviewed (n=200). Pre-tested interviewer administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data and analysis was done using Epi-info software. Chi-square and Fischer exact tests were used to determine associations and p-value was set at 0.05. Results: Many of the respondents, 46.5% (n=93) were within the age range of 30 – 34. Exclusive formula feeding (EFF) was practiced by majority 73.5% (n=147) of the respondents, 18.5% (n=37) practiced Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) while 8% (n=16) practiced mixed feeding. Poor knowledge of infant feeding options and feeling that EBF was not enough in the first six months of life were associated with EFF (p = 0.04) and mixed feeding (p = 0.01) respectively. Conclusion: Although majority of the respondents practiced exclusive formula feeding, a sizeable proportion still practiced mixed feeding. Strengthening of counseling sessions at PMTCT clinic, encouragement of exclusive breastfeeding with antiretroviral drugs would help reduce the prevalence of mixed feeding and hence the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV. Key Words: Infant feedingpractices, Mothers, HIV Positive