Dewi Maritalia, Intan Kiya
Research has shown infants receiving breast milk without additional supplements are less likely to incur adverse health symptoms and have lower mortality rates than non- breastfed infants. In the province of Aceh, 48.8% of 67, 831 new born infants were breastfed in 2014. This value is lower than the target set by the Indonesian government, which is 80%. This discrepancy led to the exploration of family support associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Factors such as cultural traditions, lack of knowledge and awareness on the benefits of exclusive breast feeding in addition to minimal family support contribute to a mother’s decision to consider alternatives to breastfeeding. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the significance of family support in the decision- making process for exclusive breastfeeding. In this study the cross-sectional based associative correlation method and purposive sampling were employed. The sample pool consisted of 40 breastfeeding mothers with infants aged 6 to 12 months. Chi- square test was used to evaluate the collected data and the result obtained showed that statistically, there is a significant relationship between a family support) and a mother’s decision to breastfeed exclusively.
Keywords: exclusive breastfeeding, breast milk, nutrition, family, family support, health, infant feeding, newborn