Duration of breastfeeding and its determinants in Bangladesh

The purpose of this study is to assess the duration of breastfeeding and the factors influencing the duration of breastfeeding in Bangladesh. A total of 4023 mother-child pairs were selected in the study from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2004. Survival analysis technique (Kaplan Meier, Life table and Cox proportional Hazards model) was employed to investigate the duration and predictor of breastfeeding. The observed mean and median durations of breast-feeding were 30.41 and 35.00 months respectively. Independent effects each of the study variables on duration of breastfeeding were estimated by using Cox's regression model which reveals that the duration of breastfeeding was positively associated with Place of residence, religion of mother and was negatively associated with age at marriage, delivery status, wealth index and maternal education. Younger mothers, mothers from Chittagong and Sylhet division, mothers and having husbands with secondary and higher education, urban mothers, caesarean-section births and Muslim mother were associated with lower duration of breastfeeding. Mothers should be informed about the maternal health benefit of breastfeeding including lactational amenorrhoea, which increases birth interval and maintains good health of the mothers.