Breast-feeding patterns in a Nigerian maternity center

The immediate postpartum feeding practices and the expected time of introducing infant formula to newborn infants at three maternity wards in Ile-Ife, Oyo State, Nigeria are described. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect the data. Less than 3 per cent of the mothers introduced breast-milk to the infants within one hour after delivery, while the rest did not only feed the infants glucose water, but did so with feeding bottles. The time of initiating breast-feeding by the majority of the mothers ranged from 10 to 18 hours after delivery. The higher the level of education of the mothers, the earlier the expected time of introducing infant formula (p less than 0.05). Essentially, no mothers who had primary or greater education expected to nurse longer than 3 months.