A Study to Identify the Most Common Reasons to Wean among Breastfeeding Mothers in UAE

Moayad J Al-Shahwan; Sabrina Ait Gacem; Nageeb A G M Hassan; Fetta Djessas; Ammar A Jairoun; Sabaa S Al-Hemyari

doi:10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_230_19

A Study to Identify the Most Common Reasons to Wean among Breastfeeding Mothers in UAE

J Pharm Bioallied Sci. 2020 Jan-Mar;12(1):72-76. doi: 10.4103/jpbs.JPBS_230_19. Epub 2020 Jan 29.

Authors

Moayad J Al-Shahwan¹, Sabrina Ait Gacem¹, Nageeb A G M Hassan¹, Fetta Djessas², Ammar A Jairoun³, Sabaa S Al-Hemyari⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
² Medical Services Unit, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
³ Department of Public Health and Safety, Consumer Product Safety Section, Dubai Municipality, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
⁴ Pharmacy Department, Ministry of Health and Prevention, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Abstract

Background: Despite the great benefits of breastfeeding for the mother and the child, many mothers face a lot of challenges and issues during lactation, which might lead to early weaning.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the factors that can lead to early weaning and to identify the most common reasons to early weaning among breastfeeding mothers.

Materials and methods: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey study. Eight hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed to lactating mothers, but only 820 were returned making the response rate of 96.5%. Breastfeeding mothers in Ajman and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) participated in the study.

Statistical analysis: The results were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. IBM Corp. Released 2011. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data concerning the demographic characteristics. Categorical variables (such as nationality and educational level) were described by using frequency, percentages, bar chart, and pie chart.

Results: The results revealed that 29% of respondents stopped breastfeeding for some reason. The main reasons stated by the participants were low milk supply (25.8%) and pain, congestion, and abscess (19.22%) followed by new pregnancy (17.5%), which were the most identified reasons for early discontinuation of breastfeeding.

Conclusion: Our study indicated that the misconception of weaning because of a new pregnancy has declined in the UAE compared to a study conducted 3 years ago. A positive improvement was also observed in terms of weaning due to personal desire compared to previous years among mothers as they became more aware of the benefits of breastfeeding.

Keywords: Breastfeeding; discontinuation; low milk; pain; pregnancy; weaning.