Prevalence of Exclusive Breastfeeding Practice and its Association with Maternal Employment in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, 2020

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding is defined as the practice of providing only breast-milk for an infant for the first 6 months of life without addition of any other food or water, which recommends initiation of breastfeeding within one hour of life and continued breastfeeding for up to 2 years of age or more. There are highly variable findings regarding the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Ethiopia. Maternal employment is the most important factor contributing to the low practice of exclusive breastfeeding. The purpose of this review was to estimate the pooled prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding and its association with maternal employment in the context of Ethiopia. Methods: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline was used in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The databases such as; PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Cochrane library, Scopus, CINAHL, and Web of Science were systematically searched. Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) was used for critical appraisal. Results: : Forty-five studies were included in the final analysis after reviewing 751 studies in this meta-analysis yielding the pooled prevalence of EBF 60.42% (95% CI: 55.81-65.02%) in Ethiopia. The subgroup analysis showed the highest prevalence reported in a study conducted in SNNP and Tigray( 87.84%), a study published during (2015-2016) (64.60 %), and among studies with a sample size of less than 500 (64.15%). Those employed mothers were 57% less likely to practice exclusive breastfeeding in comparison to unemployed mothers in Ethiopia [OR] 0.43; 95% CI (0.31, 0.61). Conclusions: Maternal employment was significantly associated with the practice of exclusive breastfeeding in comparison to their counterparts. The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in Ethiopia is low in comparison to the global recommendation. Based On our findings, we recommended that the Ethiopian government should increase legislated paid maternity leave after delivery beyond current paid maternity leave and implement policies that empower women and create a conducive environment for mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding in the workplace.