Table 2 Prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding stratified by maternal employment status among infants less than 6 months from the National Family Health Survey (round 3–5), India

Eligible mothers with known employment status

1264

3363

588

3260

590

2859

Overall Exclusive breastfeeding Prevalence

645 (51.1)

1545 (45.9)

299 (51.1)

1783 (54.8)

355 (60.3)

1920 (67.3)

Mother’s current age

 < 18

25 (56.4)

75 (51.7)

1 (21.6)

21 (62.2)

1 (100)

21 (62.1)

 18–34

573 (51.4)

1404 (45.4)

284 (51.4)

1681 (54.5)

327 (60.1)

1831 (67.4)

 > 34

47 (45.8)

66 (53.5)

14 (48)

81 (59.8)

27 (62.8)

68 (61.9)

Mothers BMI

 Underweight

239 (53.8)

517 (45.4)

69 (48.6)

346 (56)

69 (56.1)

357 (65)

 Normal

391 (49.8)

919 (46.6)

207 (52.4)

1122 (53.9)

228 (64.8)

1248 (68.6)

 Overweight/obese

15 (45.7)

109 (44.1)

23 (46.2)

315 (56.6)

58 (51.3)

315 (64.2)

Mother’s education

 Illiterate

410 (50.6)

663 (48.5)

96 (48)

436 (56.4)

78 (55.2)

321 (64.4)

 Primary

93 (54.9)

244 (49.3)

54 (51.5)

198 (52.3)

43 (57.9)

199 (69.1)

 Secondary

127 (52.7)

553 (42.6)

113 (52.1)

907 (54.7)

164 (64.5)

1065 (67.9)

 Higher

15 (35.6)

85 (42.8)

36 (55.2)

242 (54.5)

70 (59.1)

335 (66.2)

Media exposure

 No

287 (51.2)

445 (48.8)

76 (40.5)

423 (56.7)

105 (58)

516 (62.1)

 Yes

358 (51)

1100 (44.9)

223 (55.8)

1360 (54.2)

250 (61.4)

1404 (69.2)

Husband’s employment status

 Unemployed

5 (52)

25 (50.5)

20 (76.9)

106 (57.1)

9 (38.5)

99 (62.9)

 Employed

640 (51.1)

1520 (45.9)

279 (49.8)

1677 (54.7)

346 (61.3)

1821 (67.5)

No. of household members

 ≤ 5

189 (48.8)

458 (43.8)

118 (50.2)

650 (52.7)

153 (66.3)

735 (67.7)

 > 5

456 (52.1)

1087 (47)

181 (51.4)

1133 (56.1)

202 (56.6)

1185 (66.8)

Socioeconomic status

 Poor

473 (54.4)

715 (52.8)

171 (49.5)

764 (55.7)

197 (59.1)

847 (66.3)

 Middle

101 (47.5)

309 (43.1)

47 (42.8)

355 (54.2)

56 (62.6)

395 (70.6)

 Rich

71 (39.4)

521 (40.4)

81 (61.7)

664 (54.1)

102 (61.8)

678 (66.3)

Place of residence

 Urban

53 (40.3)

413 (41.3)

39 (51)

528 (51.7)

46 (60.5)

490 (64.7)

 Rural

592 (52.4)

1132 (48)

260 (50.9)

1255 (56.2)

309 (60.3)

1430 (68)

Region

 North

102 (40.86)

114 (30.53)

38 (47.56)

234 (58.28)

64 (69.23)

427 (68.41)

 South

80 (58.12)

234 (51.93)

54 (62.42)

383 (61.19)

95 (71.54)

278 (67.94)

 East

154 (47.22)

378 (43.58)

57 (43.9)

454 (61.69)

53 (64.18)

409 (65.33)

 West

117 (56.55)

201 (48.23)

48 (60.58)

232 (44.07)

57 (48.31)

197 (77.37)

 Central

267 (53.41)

521 (48.21)

78 (46.56)

414 (48.55)

32 (42.22)

531 (69.4)

 Northeastern

28 (57.16)

97 (54.96)

24 (51.43)

66 (62.27)

54 (53.75)

178 (59.42)

Preceding birth interval

 < 3 years

270 (51.8)

714 (44.7)

113 (52)

548 (46.5)

105 (49.5)

543 (64.3)

 ≥ 3 years

375 (51.5)

831 (48.7)

186 (42.2)

1235 (57.1)

250 (59.5)

1477 (64.7)

Birth order

 First

141 (49.6)

517 (45.5)

93 (60.6)

767 (61.2)

153 (71.9)

818 (71.1)

 Second

173 (55.2)

449 (44.9)

102 (46.4)

560 (48.5)

98 (49.9)

640 (64.7)

 Third or Higher

331 (49.7)

579 (47.3)

104 (48.6)

456 (53.9)

104 (58)

462 (64.2)

Number of antenatal check-ups received

 < 4

495 (51.3)

937 (46.8)

149 (49)

715 (52.7)

148 (58.1)

721 (65.4)

 ≥ 4

150 (50.5)

608 (44.7)

150 (53)

1068 (56.3)

207 (62.1)

1199 (68.2)

Birth of the infant in a health facility

 Home

478 (52.3)

850 (48.4)

59 (48)

255 (53.6)

44 (59.6)

189 (68.7)

 Yes (Facility)

167 (47.9)

695 (43.3)

240 (51.7)

1528 (55)

311 (60.5)

1731 (67)

Birth mode of the infant

 Normal vaginal

615 (51.5)

1387 (46.4)

253 (50)

1331 (52.9)

273 (60.3)

1458 (67.8)

 Caesarean section

30 (43.1)

158 (42.2)

46 (57)

452 (61.3)

82 (60.5)

462 (65.1)

Gender of the infant

 Male

322 (52.6)

783 (46.2)

157 (55.1)

971 (57.2)

177 (60.9)

970 (67.4)

 Female

323 (49.7)

762 (45.7)

142 (47)

812 (52.2)

178 (59.8)

950 (66.9)

Prelacteal feed given to the new-born

 No

614 (51.2)

1477 (45.7)

183 (53.9)

1141 (55.1)

174 (62.9)

1057 (67.7)

 Yes

31 (49.4)

68 (52)

116 (46.8)

642 (54.2)

181 (58.1)

863 (66.5)

Initiation of breastfeeding

 Early

229 (58.1)

560 (48.7)

212 (54.3)

1205 (57.4)

288 (63.4)

1447 (70.2)

 Late

416 (48.1)

985 (45.2)

87 (46.5)

578 (52.9)

67 (59.6)

473 (64.5)