Research Article Exclusive Breastfeeding Practice and Associated Factors among Mothers Attending Private Pediatric and Child Clinics, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study Laykewold Elyas, 1 Amha Mekasha, 1 Amha Admasie, 2 and Etagegnehu Assefa 3 1 Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2 School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia 3 Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Science, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia Correspondence should be addressed to Amha Admasie; amhad2002@yahoo.com Received 21 July 2017; Revised 27 October 2017; Accepted 7 November 2017; Published 27 November 2017 Academic Editor: Francesco Porta Copyright © 2017 Laykewold Elyas et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. e prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) is globally low (35%) in sub-Saharan Africa, whereas it is 58% in Ethiopia. Exclusive breastfeeding has the potential to prevent 11.6% of under-five deaths in developing countries. erefore, the main objective of this study was to assess the exclusive breastfeeding practice and associated factors on mothers attending private pediatric and child clinics in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods. An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used. A total of 380 samples were obtained. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used. Results. From 380 mothers, only 44.2% of the mothers practiced EBF. Two hundred (52.6%) mothers started breastfeeding within 1 hour of delivery; 161 (42.4%) of the mothers gave extra food before six months, and 244 (64.2%) believed that exclusive breastfeeding was sufficient. Moreover, 288 (75.8%) mothers breastfed their children eight or more times per day. Spontaneous vaginal delivery was a significant factor to practice EBF (AOR: 1.86, 95% CI: 1.19–2.89). Conclusion. EBF practice in this study was low. Spontaneous vaginal delivery was a significant factor for EBF; hence, it is very crucial to promote EBF. 1. Background Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) has been defined by the WHO as the situation where “the infant has received only breast milk from his/her mother or a wet nurse, or expressed breast milk and no other liquids, or solids, with the exception of drops or syrups consisting of vitamins, minerals, supple- ments, or medicines” [1]. Breastfeeding is a natural food that serves as a complete source of infant nutrition for the first six months of life. It contains all the necessary nutrients provided in a bioavailable and easily digestible form, protecting both mothers and children against illnesses and diseases with immunological properties [2]. Breast milk contains essential fatty acids needed for the infant’s growing brain, eyes, and blood vessels and these are not available in other types of milk. Breastfeeding on demand at day and night at least 8 times in 24 hours will provide more milk as suckling stimulates milk production [3]. Infants that are exclusively breastfed have a lower chance of becoming ill or dying from diarrhea and infections and are less likely to acquire pneumo- nia, meningitis, and ear infections than those that were not exclusively breastfed [4]; this is protective against single and recurrent incidences of otitis media in particular and the risk of hospitalization for lower respiratory tract infections during the first year of life. In addition, breastfeeding also benefits the society by reducing healthcare costs, parental employee absenteeism, and the associated loss of family income [5, 6]. Tampah-Naah and Kumi-Kyereme reported that human breast milk is the healthiest form of milk for human babies with few exceptions, such as when the mother is taking certain drugs or is infected with tuberculosis or HIV [7]. Kong and Lee posited that breast milk is produced under the influence of prolactin and oxytocin; women produce milk aſter child birth to feed the baby. e initial milk Hindawi International Journal of Pediatrics Volume 2017, Article ID 8546192, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8546192