Table 2 Breastfeeding initiation by socio-demographic characteristics of mothers in Goba Woreda, South East Ethiopia Time interval at which BF was initiated ≤ 1 hour N (%) > 1 hour N (%) Setegn et al. BMC Public Health 2011, 11:217 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/11/217 Socio-demographic Variable Age of mothers(year) Educational Status Marital status Occupation Place of residence Sex of infant 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-35 35+ Illiterate Read/Write only Primary(1-8) Secondary and above (9+) Married Never married Other* Employed Business Woman Farmer Student House wife Others** Urban Rural Male Female Factors associated with timely initiation of breast feeding Timely initiation of breastfeeding was significantly associated with place of residence, institutional deliv- ery, post natal advice on breast feeding and educa- tional status. Urban mothers were more likely to initiate breastfeeding early as compared to their rural counterparts which was 73.5% and 47.3%, respectively (P < 0.001) (Table 2 and Figure 2). Among the obste- tric and health service related factors, place of delivery and post natal information or advice on breastfeeding were significantly associated with timely initiation of 80 70 60 t 50 n rce40 e P30 20 10 0 73.5 47.3 12 36.5 Urban Rural 7.7 3.7 6.8 12.5 <=1hr >1hr-1day >1day-3days >3days Time after delivery Figure 2 Distribution of breastfeeding initiation by place of residence in Goba Woreda, South East Ethiopia. 23(53.5) 84(48.8) 123(57.2) 46(46.5) 38(54.3) 61(44.2) 50(52.6) 148(54.6) 61(64.2) 300(52.6) 4(40.0) 10(52.6) 7(53.8) 16(66.7) 16(40.0) 10(66.7) 260(52.8) 5(33.3) 86(73.5) 228(47.3) 164(51.9) 150(53.0) 20(46.5) 88(51.2) 92(42.8) 53(53.5) 32(45.7) 77(55.8) 45(47.4) 123(45.4) 34(35.8) 270(47.4) 6(60.0) 9(47.4) 6(46.2) 8(33.3) 24(60.0) 5(33.3) 232(47.2) 10(66.7) 31(26.5) 254(52.7) 152(48.1) 133(47.0) breastfeeding (Table 3). Mothers who had formal edu- cation were 1.4 times as likely to initiate breastfeeding with in the first hour after delivery as compared to those mothers who had no formal education [OR:1.4 (95%C.I:1.03-2.03)]. Similarly, urban dwellers were 3 times more likely to practice timely initiation of breastfeeding when compared to their rural counter- parts [OR: 3.1(95%C.I:1.98-4.84]).Mothers who deliv- ered in health institutions were twice as likely initiate breastfeeding as compared to those delivered at their home[OR = 1.9(95%C.I:1.30-2.71)]). Mothers who were counseled/advised on breastfeed- ing on postnatal were about 52% more likely to initi- ate breastfeeding within the first hour of delivery [OR: 0.52(95%C.I:0.38-0.72)] (Table 4). On multivari- able regression analyses after adjusting for other vari- able in the model, place of residence and information/advice on breast feeding at post natal visit were isolated to be independent predictors of timely initiation of breastfeeding. Urban mothers were 4 times as likely to practice timely initiation of breast- feeding compared to their rural counterparts [OR: 4.1 [95%C.I: 2.31-7.30], P < 0.001. Similarly, mothers who got post natal education on breastfeeding were 2.7 times more likely to initiate breast feeding within one hour after delivery[OR: 2.7(95%CI:1.86-3.94)], P < 0.001 (Table 5). Page 4 of 7 P-value 0.356 0.025 0.730 0.163 < 0.0001 0.851